Hyrule Boys' Correctional Facility
by BatNeko
Summary: In an alternate modern Hyrule, Link gets himself arrested and thrown in Juvie. A boy named Sheik shows him the ropes, and they spend eight years living it up as best they can.
1. Delinquent

Hello loyal fans (do I have loyal fans?) and welcome to my first 100 original Zelda Fanfic. This is my third fanfic on the other two being OoT retellings from Link and Sheik's perspectives called _Time Travel, Drag Kings, and Why I HateHormones_ and _Heroes, Cross-Dressing, and Why I Hate Hormones_, respectively. shameless plug

Anyway, this one's different. It takes plece in an alternate modern Hyrule, complete with TVs and Juvie. It does, however, use the classic Zelda characters, including my favorite: Sheik! I hope you enjoy it, and please bear with me if it takes awhile to update. I have no idea how long this is going to be.

Hyrule Boys' Correctional Facility

Chapter 1. Delinquent

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Link knew what he'd done wrong. It was simple really. After all the things he'd done, of course he knew what he'd done _wrong_.

After the Great Deku Tree had told him who he really was, that he wasn't a Kokiri like all his friends but instead an orphaned Hylian who just happened to live there, Link had gotten sad. Then he'd gotten mad. Then he'd started destroying things, and when he got tired of doing that at home he'd left the forest, gone into the main part of Hyrule, and started destroying things there.

That was where it had happened. After destroying some rather random stuff he'd been chased down by the police, shoved in front of a man in black robes, and informed that blowing up mailboxes was a federal offense. Link hadn't known that, but apparently "ignorance of the law is no excuse." So he'd been sentenced to spend the next eight years in a boys' correctional facility, or juvenile hall.

Link was ten years old, angry at the world, a convicted criminal, and he knew what he'd done wrong. He'd gotten caught.

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Hyrule Boys' Correctional Facility was a large gray building with no distinguishing features, other than a chain-link fence surrounding it and metal screens over all the windows. The inside was equally gray and equally blank, but there were signs of human activity. Expletives carved into walls and furniture, gum and spit balls stuck to various surfaces. All of these had been partially cleaned off or, in the case of the expletives, covered with a layer of paint, but they were still visible. This was an encouraging sign.

Link was handed some drab gray clothing that matched the building and directed to the east wing. Once there, an older boy with four earring in one ear told him a room number and advised him to avoid trouble for at least a few hours. Link grunted in reply and went to the room he'd been assigned.

A boy, about Link's age, was lying on his stomach on the bed on the right. He was wearing drab gray pants identical to the ones Link had been given, but instead of a shirt he had a vest-like thing with the sleeves torn off. He had very pale blond hair, was darkly tan, and had bandages around his head like a hat. He was also carving something into his bed's headboard with a nail file.

"Hey," the boy said, without turning around.

"Hey," Link replied. He dumped his gray clothing on the left bed and sat beside it.

"So you're my roomie huh?" the other boy said, still not looking up.

"I guess so," Link looked at the boy. "What are you _doing_?"

"Carving my name into my bed," he answered simply. "So that the next poor sucker who sleeps here will know I was here first."

Link peered at the carving.

_**SHEI**_

"Your name is _Sheila_?" Link exclaimed.

"No, dork," the boy finished the last letter of his carving and sat up. He had angular red eyes and was quite obviously a Sheikah. "It's Sheik."

_**SHEIK**_

"Oh," Link blushed a little. "I'm Link."

"So, Link," Sheik leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "What are you in for?"

"Destroyed some stuff," he shrugged.

"What kind of stuff?"

"A lot of stuff." Link thought back to his time in court. "I think they called it… Destruction of private property, destruction of public property, and destruction of federal property. Oh, and breaking and entering."

Sheik laughed. "Not bad, not bad at all."

"What about you?"

"Let me think…" Sheik scratched his cheek. "Breaking and entering, vandalism, larceny, and, uhh, I broke into a post office."

"You broke into a post office!" Link exclaimed. "But that's a federal offense!"

"Well I didn't know that when I did it," Sheik replied bitterly. He sighed. "It doesn't really matter in retrospect. I don't mind being here, it's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"You don't?" Sheik shook his head. "Me neither."

"Runaway?" Link nodded. "Me too."

After a moment's pause the two boys looked at each other and smiled.

"Let's stick together, you and me," Sheik said. "We'll have a better chance of getting through this alive and un-violated if we watch out for each other."

"Deal," Link agreed.

They reached across the space between the beds and shook hands. Link noticed that Sheik's hands were soft and uncalloused, but thought it would be weird to comment on it.

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Sheik had been in juvie only a week longer than Link, but he'd already figured out the ropes and was perfectly willing to pass along his knowledge. The boys were divided by age, ten and younger in the east wing, eleven to fourteen in the south wing, and fifteen to eighteen in the west wing. All the wings were filled with two-person rooms, not cells, and each one of those had their own closet-sized bathroom.

Sheik said it was best to stick to your own age group, but it was okay to have younger followers. There weren't many kids younger than Sheik and Link, but Sheik had been working on making the three seven-year-olds who had broken thirty-six windows in twenty-four hours look up to him.

"It's not working very well though," he said. "Those kids are nuts."

In between the three wings was a big area with sections for eating, exercising, and sitting around and watching TV. There was also a pool table, a fooseball table, air hockey, and card tables, though all were bolted to the floor so they couldn't be stolen or used as weapons. The TV was also bolted, as was the one in the separate TV Room, and the one that was reserved for video games. About the only things that weren't bolted were the books in the library, but those didn't go missing.

The boys in the facility had plenty of free time to use these bolted devices. Their days were structured, but loosely. Breakfast at the same time every day, followed by free time until lunch, then the older boys, and sometimes the younger boys, were taken out to do community service for varying amounts of time or worked in the gardens all afternoon, then dinner and one hour of free time until lights out. All in all, not bad.

Lunch for the youngest group was at eleven, and Link experienced it not long after he arrived. Sheik helped him make it through the line for food without losing any limbs, then pointed out some of the boys their own age, and all the ones he knew were going to be in there for an extended period of time.

"Of course, only two others are going to be nearly as long as I am," Sheik bragged, buttering a piece of bread. "I'm here till I'm eighteen."

Link nearly choked on his food. "You are! So am I!"

"Really?" Sheik laughed. "How weird, I guess that means _three_ others are going to be here as long as I am. When are you getting out?"

"I'm not sure, some time in summer, I think."

"Oh no way!" Sheik laughed harder. "Me too! That's so great!"

"Wow," Link blinked. "That's a weird coincidence."

"It must be because our crimes are so similar." Sheik took a big bite out of his bread and kept talking. "We both messed with the postal system, remember?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Just then a Zora boy leaned across the table and tapped to get their attention. "Hey Sheik, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Link. He's here for as long as I am." After that it was introductions all around; apparently Sheik had settled in quite well in the week he'd been there.

That afternoon there were more introductions, more lessons, and the discovery that it was impossible to determine which of the two boys was worse at pool. Luckily neither had anything worth betting, and the other boys kicked them away from the table after Link's forty-ninth scratch.

Dinner was no more eventful then lunch, except that the food was better and actually warm. There was a food fight at one end of the dining hall, but it didn't spread to the rest of it. Link had noticed things like that all day. There was happiness and laughter, but it was localized. The only emotions that filled the whole place were anger, bitterness, despair. Most of the boys there were still just boys, scared little boys.

After dinner Sheik led Link to the TV room, where Link settled down with the newspaper and Sheik got into an argument over the remote. Link skipped right to the comics, completely ignoring the rest of the paper, until one headline caught his eye.

"Hey, look at this," he held the paper up to show Sheik.

"What is it?"

"Look," He pointed to the headline.

PRINCESS GOES INTO HIDING

"That's weird," Sheik leaned over and looked at it.

Link quickly scanned the article. "It says that Princess Zelda is going into hiding until she's eighteen."

"Why?"

Link kept scanning. "Well, apparently the princesses in her family have a history of getting kidnapped, so they're hiding her 'in a secure location' until she's eighteen and can take care of herself."

"That seems a bit excessive." Something else in the paper attracted Sheik's attention. "Ooh comics."

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That night Link settled down to bed, much earlier than he'd been to bed in a long time, and stared at the wall, listening to the sound of Sheik breathing. It wasn't until he was on the verge of sleep that Link realized it was the first night in weeks he hadn't even come close to tears. Strange how he could be happier in a place like this than he'd been anywhere else.


	2. Etcetera

Well I finally got chapter two done. It's a little spastic but I'm trying, okay! Anyway, just a note; I'm putting zzz between sections instead of the whole line of z's like in the last chapter. Since won't let me double space it's the only way to keep these things seperate.

zzz

Chapter 2

Etcetera

Three weeks later, Saria found him.

He and Sheik were hanging out in the visiting room (the chairs there were comfortable and clean, and there was no actual rule against being in there) when one of the guards escorted a short green-haired girl into the room. Immediately Link, who'd been sitting on a chair back, toppled off and hit the ground.

"Who is it you're looking for?" the guard asked.

"His name is Link," Saria said. "He's blond, ten, and usually wears a hat."

"It that him?" the guard pointed at Sheik, who just blinked.

"No," Saria shook her head. "I don't know who that is."

"Did you say Link?" Sheik asked.

"Yes. Do you know where he is?"

"Uhh…" Shiek looked down behind his chair, to where Link was hissing at him to be quiet. "Nope, no idea."

"I don't believe you," Saria frowned. "What were you looking at just now?"

"Umm… My imaginary friend?" There was the sound of Link smacking himself on the forehead.

"Who is that back there?" Saria started coming towards them.

"No one. Really." Then he hissed down, "Link, run!"

Frantically, Link tried to crawl away, but Saria spotted him. "Link!"

Link got to his feet and coughed nervously. "Hey Saria."

"Link, how could you!" she demanded.

"What, run away or get arrested?"

"_Both_, you little…you little…"

"Delinquent?" Sheik suggested.

"You little _delinquent_!" Saria exclaimed. Then she turned to Sheik, "Thank you."

"No prob."

"Whose side are you on?" Link demanded.

Sheik shrugged and grinned. "No honor amongst thieves."

"Link…" Saria grabbed his hand and looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

Link blinked, then looked over Saria's shoulder at Sheik.

_Milk it_, Sheik mouthed.

Link heaved a deep sigh. "I guess I'm okay, but it's really hard here. Even my roommate is betraying me."

"Hey!"

"Well you _are_," Link shot Sheik a Look, Sheik returned with a rude gesture. "Anyway," Link turned back to Saria. "All the boys are really tough, and I don't have anything to bargain with."

"What kind of things do you bargain with?" Saria asked.

Sheik grinned.

"Nothing special, just things you can't get in here. Chocolate, cigarettes, warm socks and tough-looking clothes. Bandannas are a big draw, since they make ya look tough."

"I…could bring you some things," Saria offered.

Sheik flashed a thumbs up.

"Nothing illegal of course," she added quickly. "But chocolate and socks would be no problem."

"You mean it Saria?" Link grabbed her hand in both of his. "That would be such a big help."

"Of course Link," Saria exclaimed. "I'd do anything for you."

"Saria…" he looked deep into her eyes. "You're the best!" he punched her arm.

"Um, right." Saria sighed. "Well, I'm gonna go tell everyone where you are…" She looked around. "Or maybe I'll just tell them you're okay."

"Yeah, if you could _not_ tell Mido I'm in juvie, that'd be great."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She smiled warmly. "Good bye Link, I'll be back as soon as I can."

As soon as Saria disappeared, Sheik came over, clapped his hand on Link's shoulder, and looked at him seriously. "Who was that, and why did she have green hair?"

Link sighed. "That was Saria, she's, uh, kind of my sister."

"Kind of?"

"I grew up with her, she takes care of me a lot."

"Well," he looked after her, "obviously. That doesn't explain the green hair though."

"She's a Kokiri, they don't follow your rules of normal hair color."

"Your sort-of-sister is a Kokiri?" Sheik took his hand off Link's shoulder and stared at him. "Are _you_ a Kokiri!"

Link looked away. "No," he said. "I'm not."

For a moment Sheik just looked at him. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"No, not really. Not really."

"What's wrong Link?"

Link shook his head. "It's not important, not between you and me."

"Ah," Sheik nodded knowingly. "One of _those_ things."

"One of what things!" Link bristled.

"Personal things, you know," he looked at Link. "I'm guessing it has something to do with you not being a Kokiri. Like maybe you thought you were a Kokiri, then found out you weren't. That's probably why you ran away, and why you were destroying stuff."

Link stared. "How did you get so smart?"

Sheik shrugged and grinned. "Wisdom runs in my family."

zzz

More time passed. Saria was as good as her word, bringing chocolate, socks, bandannas, even some underwear. Sheik immediately confiscated this and hot-glued it to a wall in the cafeteria. Link didn't mind, since he'd done something similar to Sheik only a week before.

Link's unusual optimism and cheerful demeanor made him stand out a bit among all the gray, and people had begun to notice.

"Hey, Link?" Sheik said cautiously. "You might wanna...tone it down a bit."

"Tone it down?" Link repeated. "What do you mean?"

Sheik looked at him for a moment before answering. "You're too happy."

Link blinked. "_Huh_?"

"People in here don't like it when other people are...enjoying themselves."

"But that's stupid!"

"I agree," Sheik shrugged, "but there's nothing we can do about it. Just stop laughing hysterically and smiling all the time and we should be good."

"Good," Link muttered. "What's good about pretending not to be happy? Besides, you're as happy as I am."

"True," Sheik agreed, "but I'm smarter than you are." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "My life kind of sucked before, you know?"

"I think everyone's did." He gestured around them. "That's why they wound up here."

"Maybe."

"Definitely. And now that they're away from it they want to wallow in their own misery. This isn't even real prison, where you get nicknames and street cred and stuff."

"They have street cred here." Sheik looked around at the other boys. "You know, that gives me an idea."

"What?"

Sheik shook his head, then leaned toward Link, that oddly serious look on his face again. "Listen to me Link," he said. "I am smarter than you, but you are cooler than me."

"I don't know about-"

"Did I say you could speak?"

"Um, no?"

"Then don't speak!"

Link snapped his mouth shut.

"The truth is, I'm not great at getting people to like me. Don't speak!"

Link choked on his objection.

"You, on the other hand, have a natural talent for that. People just like you. I blame the boyish innocence."

"The what?"

"Silence! We are a perfect team. I will think of things to do, and you will make them cool. That is why you must agree with everything I say and do for at least the next few months."

"But why?"

"Duh," the strange seriousness disappeared. "Street cred."

zzz

When Link got up the next morning Sheik was already gone. This wasn't unusual, Shiek usually woke up before Link, but when Link came down to breakfast he found Sheik surrounded by people, which was.

"About time," Sheik greeted him with a smile. "You remember Mikau and Darmani," he gestured to a Zora boy and a Goron. "They'll be helping us."

"With what?" Link asked, sitting beside Mikau.

"With this," Sheik held up a sheaf of papers. "We're nicknaming everyone."

"We are? Why?"

Sheik shrugged. "It's cool." He passed the papers to Link. "As you can see I've already got Mikau down for 'Ice,' Darmani for 'Rock,' and you for 'Blades.'" He frowned thoughtfully. "Although you might want to spell it with a Z. What do you think?"

"Um, 'Bladez?' That's kind of..."

"Yeah, it's a bit much." Sheik nodded firmly. "Blades with an s it is."

"Do I really need a nickname? I mean...you don't have one."

"Well, no. But Sheik is practically a nickname anyway. What with me being a Sheikah and all. Besides..." he smiled a little. "I have a nickname for myself in mind, but it's kind of lame to give yourself one. I'll have to wait for you guys to think of it."

Link stared at him for a moment. "It's 'Boss' isn't it?"

"Ssh!" Sheik hissed. "Not yet!"

Link sighed. "You're not going to call me Blades are you?"

"Not if you don't want me too."

"I don't."

"Fine, they'll just be our street names then."

"What street!" Link exclaimed. "This is juvie, and we're ten. There is no street and there probably never will be."

"I like 'Ice,'" Mikau said defensively.

"And I'm thirteen," Darmani added.

Link sighed. "Fine, whatever."

Sheik was looking at him oddly. He got up. "Link, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, yeah, sure." Link followed him off to a corner.

Sheik looked around to make sure no one was listening. Then he sighed. "Link, do you remember what we talked about yesterday?"

"Sure, you said I was being too happy and that we needed street cred and..." he trailed off as memory came flooding back. "Oh..."

"Yeah," Sheik said. He sighed again. "I'm sorry Link."

"Huh?"

"It was a dumb idea and I admit it, I shouldn't have tried to force you to go along with it."

Sheik looked so sad that Link couldn't help but try to comfort him. "No Sheik, it was a good idea. It's just not my thing, you know? I'm sure other people liked it. Mikau, I mean Ice, he liked it... And Darmani, what did you name him?"

"Rock," Sheik still looked sad. "But he didn't like it either."

"Sheik..."

"You know how I said people just like you Link?"

"Yeah."

"I meant myself too. I like you, I want to be a good friend to you, but I don't have a lot of experience at it. I...I've never had many friends..."

"Sheik..."

Sheik looked up.

Link smiled. "I like you too. And I promise if you do something I don't like, I'll let you know. 'Kay?"

Sheik smiled back. "'Kay."

"Sheik!" Mikau came running up to them. "Like seventeen guys want to be nicknamed "Spider,' I didn't know what to tell them."

Sheik blinked. "You're kidding."

"No, they're about to start punching."

Sheik grinned. "And they're actually going to let me decide this?"

"Well, yeah," Mikau said. "I mean, it was your idea."

Sheik's grim was now positively wicked. "Yes. Yes it was."

zzz

By lights out a good fifty percent of the boys, and even a couple of guards, had been nicknamed. And Sheik had somehow managed to keep all fights at bay and even make up some decent variations on Snake and Spider.

"It's nice to know I'm a natural leader," Sheik said as he and Link were getting in bed.

"How come?" Link asked.

"'Night Link."

"Hey! I said, how come?"

"And I said goodnight." Sheik faced his back toward Link, thereby ending the conversation.

Link sighed and pulled the rough sheets up to his neck. As he closed his eyes he realized that today was the first time Sheik had shown any signs of weakness, and something about what he'd said made Link think that Sheik maybe, just maybe, might have come from a sheltered home life. Oh well, Link was sure Sheik would tell him more about himself tomorrow.

But it would be more than a year before Link would find out even one of Sheik's other secrets.


	3. Systematic Deconstruction

Note: Chapter 3 happens during Link and Sheik's second year in juvie. Sorry I didn't make that more clear in the actual chapter.

3.

Systematic Deconstruction

Chunk!

Link paused as he reached for the door knob.

Chunk!

There it was again! Link yanked open the door to his room and stared.

Sheik was sitting rather awkwardly on his bed, kicking one of the bed posts.

"What are you _doing_?" Link asked.

"Kickin' this bed post."

Link blinked. "Why?"

"To knock it off."

Link sat down on his own bed with an air of resignation. "Why?" he asked again.

"I need the wood." Sheik's bed post cracked loudly, and with a final kick, clattered to the floor. "I'm making a shiv."

Link opened his mouth to say "why" again, but instead closed it and gave up.

"Just to have one," Sheik added, answering the question Link hadn't bothered to ask. "You know, because I want to."

"Why don't you just ask Saria? She likes you."

"She likes everyone," Sheik shook his head. "Even that 'Dark' guy."

"He's not so bad."

"He killed somebody!"

"He did!"

"Didn't you know?"

"Shit!"

"Chill dude. I'll make you a shiv too."

Link took several deep breaths, a good idea when dealing with people like his friends on a daily basis, and calmed down. "What were we saying?"

"Saria has bad taste."

"Does not!"

"She likes you doesn't she?"

"So?"

"No," Sheik looked up from his sharpening. "I mean she _likes _you."

Link stared, an unconscious sneer on his face. "No way Sheik! That's just gross!"

Sheik shrugged. "I could be wrong. What do I know about girls?" He sounded oddly bitter.

"You know it's almost lights out right?"

Sheik made a noncommital grunt.

"And I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to have a shiv."

Sheik grunted again.

"I'm going to bed. Don't stab me in my sleep."

"I make no promises," Sheik said calmly.

Link snorted and climbed into bed.

zzz

When Link woke up the next morning Sheik was already gone, as usual. Link didn't know how Sheik always woke up before he did, but it was a skill Link wouldn't mind learning. Sheik had a lot of skills Link envied.

For example, Link had never quite gotten the hang of "fitting in." When he was happy he showed it, when he was upset he tended to let people know, and when he was sad... Well, Link tried to avoid being sad.

Link was in a bad mood at the moment. His conversation with Sheik last night had given him some very unpleasant dreams, and he was starting to get a little claustrophobic. The fact that he still had just under seven years left until he could leave was not helping.

As much as he liked his friends and freedom, living in the same gray walls, day after day, for more than a year...it got hard. And if the stuff the older boys talked about was any indication, the fact that there was not a single female anywhere in the facility would soon become a rather pressing problem.

It was one of these testy older boys who bumped into Link on the way to breakfast. "Watch it midget," the boy snapped.

"Watch it yourself cunt," Link snapped back.

The older boy, with barely a change in expression, slammed Link up against the wall, knocking his hat off, and punched him hard in the stomach. A couple of the older boy's buddies noticed this and came to help.

Unfortunately, they came to help their friend, not Link.

Fifteen minutes later most of the older boys were confined to their rooms and Link was in the infirmary. He wasn't hurt too badly, a few scrapes and bruises and what would most likely be a black eye, and he hadn't ratted out any of his attackers. That was Rule One; don't squeal. So three of the boys had gotten away before the guards could catch them, and no one could prove theyhad doneanything.

Sheik turned up as the nurse was finishing with Link's bandages. "Link! Are you okay?" he exclaimed.

"What do you think?" Link asked sullenly.

"Come on," Sheik said softly. "Let's go back to our room."

Link slid off the cot he'd been sitting on, ran his fingers through his hair in an excessive display of not-caring, and left with Sheik.

"What happened?" Sheik asked. "Somebody said Chuck just attacked you without warning."

"Well, I did call him a cunt."

"Ah." Sheik was silent for a moment. "I guess I don't need to say anything."

"No. You don't." Link was walking slowly, almost limping. Sheik bit his lip and resisted the urge to try and help him.

When they got to their room Link sat on the bed and stared furiously at the floor. Sheik recognized that glare. It was the look one got when they were trying to convince everyone, including themselves, that they were not close to tears.

"For the record," Sheik said nonchalantly, "you got pounded into the ground. You've got a right to cry."

"It's not that!" Link burst out. "I don't care that I got beat up, I was stupid and I deserved it, but- but-" He took a deep shuddering breath and shook his head. Tears escaped from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. "They got my hat Sheik!"

"What?" Sheik blinked.

"My hat, dammit! I know it's stupid but... I've had that thing forever... I _liked _it..." He trailed off into silent tears, and when he looked up Sheik was gone.

zzz

Link was the first real friend Sheik had ever had. His old life had been quite literally the exact opposite of his life now, and though neither one was what he really wanted his life to be, at least in this one he had friends. His friends were very important to Sheik, despite being criminals, and he was not going to let anyone get away with hurting them.

Since he was not a guard, and didn't look like a threat, Sheik managed to get plenty of eyewitness accounts of the fight. They mostly disagreed, but Sheik did manage to determine which boy had picked up Link's hat as he ran. It was one of the ones who had escaped, but Sheik knew him from nicknaming and found him quickly, playing pool with some of his buddies.

"Hey, you're 'Cutter' right?" he said to the boy.

"That's me," the boy grinned. "Oh, hey, you're Sheik. What's up?"

"There's been some dispute over your nickname. Can we talk? Privately?"

"Sure." He put down his pool cue and warned his friends not to cheat while he was gone, then followed Sheik into the hallway.

It was empty. Sheik suppressed a smile.

"So what's the problem?" Cutter asked.

"What's that in your pocket?" Sheik pointed at a bit of green fabric sticking out of Cutter's pants pocket.

"Oh, this?" Cutter pulled it out. "I dunno, just picked it up. I think it belonged to that little- uh, I mean... Just found it."

"Link."

"What?"

"His name is Link. That's his hat." Sheik voice was flat, completely emotionless.

"Oh, well, whatever. I was gonna make it into a bandanna."

"How old are you Cutter?"

"Sixteen."

"Than this should hurt like hell." Without another word Sheik drove his knee into the older boys groin with a sickening crunch.

He inhaled sharply and fell to his knees. Sheik backhanded him across the face, kicked him on the other side of his face, and plucked the hat from his hand.

"Don't think the little ones can't fight back," he said simply, and walked off.

A few minutes later someone found Cutter lying in the hall, wheezing. He looked at him for a moment, then walked past him into the common room.

Rule 1: Don't squeal.

zzz

Link was glad to have his hat back, but naturally curious about where Sheik had gotten it.

"Just asked the guy who took it, he didn't care."

"Well thanks a lot Sheik, I appreciate it," Link smiled warmly.

"No problem, it was easy." Sheik smiled secretively and left the room.

Link stared at the closed door for a moment, then sighed and leaned back on his bed. There was something about Sheik. It seemed like there were always things he left unsaid, and double meanings to the things he did say. When he thought about it, Link realized he didn't really know anything about Sheik, he didn't even know why he'd run away from home or broken into that post office. Who breaks into a _post office_? It didn't make sense.

But Link couldn't bring himself to ask. He valued Sheik's friendship too much to jeopardize it.

zzz

Link woke early the next morning. He had fallen asleep long before lights out, and it worked against him.

At first he had every intention of rolling over and trying to go back to sleep, but something about the room, barely visible in the pre-dawn light, struck him as odd. Link sat up and squinted at the other side of the room.

Sheik was gone.

Link threw off his covers and climbed out of bed. Nervously he crossed the short distance between the beds and prodded Sheik's tangled sheets.

Yup, he was gone.

But that was impossible! The doors of all the rooms locked automatically after bed-check. There was no way Sheik could have disappeared like this.

On an impulse, Link checked the door.

It was unlocked.

Link opened the door slowly and peered into the hallway. There was no one in sight, and it was still dark. There weren't even any guards, though Link knew they patrolled pretty laxly at night.

Link slipped into the hall and looked around again. He didn't really want to close the door behind him, but figured it would be safer than leaving it open, so he shut it and tiptoed away.

He didn't have any specific destination in mind, but he headed toward the common area because there wasn't anything in the other direction. He glanced in the area, saw that there was nothing there, started to turn away, and stopped.

There was something...off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was very strange.

"Hah!"

Link whirled around looking for the source of the sound. It had been a boy's voice, soft and muffled, but it sounded like he was fighting someone.

"Hp, hah!"

There! Link ran across the empty room to the door to the TV room.

"Hah!"

Link peered through the window in the door but no one was there. He pushed it open anyway and went in.

"Hp! Hp! Hah! Wa- unf!"

There was a thump from above Link's head. Of course, there was a storage room above the TV room! Link grabbed a chair and dragged it over under the panel with the lock in it that was an alternate entrance. Link pushed on it experimentally and was not surprised when it budged.

There was a figure in the room, climbing to its feet and dusting off its knees. As Link climbed through the hole and carefully replaced the panel the figure started kicking and punching the air.

"Ha!"

Link snuck as quietly as he could across the room. Luckily there were a lot of boxes to hide behind, and the figure has its back to him.

It was a small figure, a child probably. In fact, as Link got closer, it started to look a lot like...

"Sheik!"

Sheik whirled around. "Link!"

"What are you doing?"

Sheik looked down at his still-clenched fists. "Um, well, training."

"Training?"

"Yeah." Sheik coughed nervously and straightened up. "Training."

"Why?"

Sheik rolled his eyes. "You got the crap beaten out of you yesterday and you're still asking me that?"

"Well..." Link rubbed one of his bruises. "You do have a point. But seriously, why are you training?"

Sheik turned aside and went back to his kicking practice. "Have I told you much about my past Link?" he asked.

"No. Hardly anything."

"Good. I'll just tell you this; I _need _to be able to protect myself."

"But Sheik-"

"Besides, the Sheikah are the servants of the royal family. Most, if not all, train for battle from a very young age."

"Like eleven?"

"Yes, like eleven." Sheik sighed and stooped kicking again. "Was there something you wanted?"

"No, not really. I have another question though."

"By all means," Sheik said sarcastically.

"How the _hell _did you get here!"

"Oh, that." Sheik scratched his head nervously. "That's...kind of hard to explain..."

"Try."

"Well...most of the defenses in this place, well, the locks anyway, are purely technological. When it's magic vs. technology magic usually wins."

Link blinked. "You can do magic?"

"Short version, yes. Long version, hell yes."

"And you can fight?"

"Refer to previous answer."

"Sheik..." Link grinned suddenly. "I think you are the coolest person I know!"

Sheik looked at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. He laughed for a good five minutes, then when he stopped he wiped his eyes and waved Link over. "Come on buddy," he said. "Let me show you how to kick a guy where it _really _hurts."


	4. New Friends and Familiar Faces

4. New Friends and Familiar Faces

One day near the beginning of Link and Sheik's third year in juvie, as they, Mikau, and Darmani were hanging out in the visiting room, there was a disturbance. Nothing spectacular, but it would change more than anyone could have suspected.

It started simply. A red-haired girl came into the visiting room, spotted a dark-haired boy who'd wanted the name Spider,marched up to himand slapped him, hard.

"You little bastard!" she cried. "How _dare_ you try to talk to me after what you did!"

"What!" the boy exclaimed, rubbing his cheek. "You bitch! Why did you-"

She slapped him again. "You stole from my farm, you lied to me, and you had the _nerve_ to call me today! You don't _deserve _to be in juvie!"

Sheik snickered under his breath.

The guards arrived right about then. They sent the boy back to his room and started to lead the girl, fighting and cursing, back to the entrance.

Sheik climbed over the back of his seat and ran toward the guards. Darmani and Mikau were deep in a debate about legends (specifically, who would win in a fight; the Hero of Time or the Hero of Winds?), so they barely noticed. Only Link watched Sheik's strange actions.

"Hold up!" he called. "I want to talk to her."

"You know her?" one asked.

"Y- yeah, um," Sheik put his arm around the girl. "Malon and I go way back."

The girl looked at him in surprise, then nodded furiously at the guards.

"Well, all right then," the guards released her, but one wagged a finger at the girl. "Don't slap this one."

"Oh, I won't," she said, rather nervously.

The guards left and Sheik led the girl over to some chairs.

"How did you know my name?" Malon asked. "Do you really know me?"

"Not really," Sheik smiled apologetically. "I went to your farm once or twice when I was a kid, and I have a good memory for names."

"So what's your name?"

"Sheik. So, uh, what was that thing with...Bronco I believe."

"Bronco?" Malon repeated. "His name is Reggie."

"Ah, yes, well," Sheik grinned nervously. "It's a bit of a tradition around here for people to get nicknames as soon as they arrive. I'm, uh, kind of in charge of that..."

"Kind of?"

"It was my idea actually. I keep the record of who has which nickname and which ones have been retired."

"Retired?"

"Like sports stars jersey numbers."

Malon looked at him oddly. "So you're like a gang leader."

"Huh?" Sheik looked startled. "What? No! I've only got like three followers and they're not... well Rock is kind of like a goon...and Link... Never mind, point is I'm not a gang leader. I just nickname people."

"Can I have a nickname?" Malon asked nervously.

Sheik stared. "You really want one?"

She nodded, then shrugged. "I don't have many friends, so I haven't got anyone to give me one. And you can't give one to yourself..."

"True," Sheik agreed. "Okay then, how about..." he looked at her thoughtfully. "Bonanza."

"Huh?"

"Well, that sounds like a cowboy, or girl, kind of thing, so why not?

"Bonanza?" She thought for a moment. "Bonanza?" She frowned a little, then smiled. "Okay, Bonanza it is then."

"So you wanna tell me what was up with that guy?"

Malon glared furiously at nothing in particular. "That..._bastard! _He got a job on the farm, pretended to be my friend, and in the end he planned to rob us!" She clenched her fists so tight her knuckles turned white. "We don't make much money form selling our milk, eggs, and horses, and most of what we do make goes right back into the farm. And he was going to steal all that!"

Sheik thought that she was being a bit melodramatic, but had the wisdom not to say anything. Instead he let Malon rant for a bit, then when she was finished he patted her shoulder and said something suitably comforting.

Malon smiled warmly at him and asked him what he was doing in a place like this. Sheik smiled back and told her.

Half an hour later Sheik finally came back to where Link, Mikau, and Darmani were now arguing heatedly.

"What do you think Sheik?" Link asked. "Who would win, the Hero of Time or the Hero of the Winds?"

Sheik shook his head. "Don't you guys know your legends at all? The Hero of the Winds was the Hero of Time reborn."

"No shit?"

"No shit. That's how it works. Whenever the world is in danger a hero will be born and his name will be..." Sheik trailed off.

"What?" Mikau asked. "His name will be what?"

"Um, remembered. His name will be remembered." Sheik glanced at Link nervously.

"Then how come we don't know the Heroes' names now?" Mikau pressed.

"Well, we do."

"I don't."

"Well I do. It's a Sheikah thing."

"So what were their names then?"

Sheik got up and started to walk away. "Like I said, it's a Sheikah thing."

zzz

They were gardening that day. Link made a show of grumbling and complaining along with the rest, but the truth was; Link loved gardening. When the gray walls were closing in and Link could barely breathe, the only thing that helped was to get out in the sun and dig in the dirt for a while.

Link had, of course, grown up in the forest and wasn't used to being indoors all day every day. He and the others in the Kokiri forest grew their own food, so Link knew plenty about gardening, and it was a very soothing and nostalgic experience for him.

Sheik didn't get it. Link didn't expect him too. Link didn't understand Sheik's unwavering dedication to the royal family and Sheik didn't understand Link's unwavering love of the earth. They didn't disagree with each others' opinions, but they didn't pretend to understand them. Sheik explained it away as "cultural differences."

Sometimes Link really wished he could share Sheik's culture. Maybe then he would understand him more.

What with the fighting lessons all, Link and Sheik were spending more time than ever together, and time alone at that. They didn't talk about their pasts, or their feelings, (why would they?) but they were closer than they had ever been. And that was kind of depressing. Since Link still knew so little about him.

The plus side was that the lessons were paying off. Link was starting to develop muscles, not much but enough for now. He could hold his own against Mikau in arm wrestling, and had actually knocked Sheik off his feet once in practice. This was quite an accomplishment, since Sheik, who was shorter than Link, had a lower center of gravity and knew how to use it.

A couple of days after Sheik met "Bonanza," Link got an opportunity to show off his new skills.

The boy called "Bronco," still trying to regain his manhood in the eyes of the other boys, was shoving some ten-year-olds around. He and a couple of his buddies, whose names Link didn't know, had gotten hold of one of their shoes, somehow, and were playing keepaway.

Sheik was explaining to Darmani, very slowly and carefully, the concept of "tact." For some reason Sheik was a strong believer in gender equality, and Darmani couldn't seem to break the habit of thinking of women in terms of body parts.

Darmani was getting out in three weeks and they were all going to miss him. Mikau still had almost two years left, but Sheik was already on the lookout for replacements for them both.

Link, meanwhile, had noticed the "game" that Bronco and the others were playing, and wasn't pleased. One of the ten-year-olds, not the one who owned theshoe, leapt for it, missed badly, and fell flat on his face.

The bullies laughed.

Link got up.

"Want it?" Bronco asked maliciously, waggling the shoe in range of the boys' arms. One of them tried to grab it and he jerked it back. "Too bad!" He pulled back his arm and tossed the shoe to one of his friends.

It never made it.

Link stood between the two boys, the picture of calm. He lowered his arm, shoe in hand, and handed it back to the boy. "Y'okay?" he asked.

"Sure," the boy said.

"Okay." Link turned to the bullies. "Not cool," he said.

"Hey man," Bronco puffed up his chest and stepped toward the interloper. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Getting that kid his shoe back," Link said simply.

"This has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, I know."

Bronco was now very close to Link, obviously trying to tower over him. He was tall enough, but Link's perfect serenity made it difficult. He clenched and unclenched his fists a couple of times, all while trying to stare Link down, then finally drew his arm back and swung.

Link ducked under it easily and gave him a quick jab to the stomach.

Bronco doubled over, breathless and wheezing. His buddies started to close in, and Link, remembering his lessons, backed away slowly. Grinning, one of the boys went toward him.

When the boy tried to throw a punch Link grabbed his arm and usedthe attacker'sown momentum to hurl him to the ground.

One more boy tried it. He shouted, "Hey!" and ran toward Link. This boy was smaller than the others, and a bit smarter, so he started to throw a punch toward Link's face, then when Link tried to dodge it the boy dodged his counter attack and grabbed his shoulder. They struggled for a moment, until Link elbowed him in the ribs to make him let go, and back-handed the side of his face as hard as he could.

By this time Bronco and the other boy were back on their feet, but the fight had already drawn too much attention, and the last boy had run for it long ago.

Link helped the boy he'd back-handed to his feet then glared at Bronco.

"Not cool man," he said. "Just not cool."

Bronco snorted, then turned around. "Come on," he said. His buddies ignored him and went their separate ways.

Link returned to his friends.

"Link," Sheik said with wide eyes. "You're my hero."

Link laughed.

zzz

No one was laughing three weeks later. Darmani was gone and their little group felt smaller than ever. They were all happy for Darmani, but it was still a sad day.

"You know the worst part?" Sheik sighed.

"What?" Link asked glumly.

"We lost our muscle."

"Is that all you care about?" Mikau snapped. "That his muscle is gone?"

"_No_, I'm just worried 'cause people might try to mess with us now."

"No one's gonna mess with us." Mikau clapped Link on the shoulder. "We got us a hero, remember?"

"I'm not a hero," Link muttered. "I'm a little punk, ask anyone."

"Sheik, is Link a hero or a punk?"

"Hero."

"See?"

"Be quiet Sheik," Link sighed. He leaned on the table, his head almost vertical resting on his hand. "This sucks. I don't know how it could be worse."

"Mikau, when do you get out?"

"Twenty months."

"Oh joy." Link dropped his head down on the table completely.

In the silence that followed a voice could be heard, coming from the other side of the room.

"...and the best part is that I'm only in here forsix years! That's like _nothing _for what I did! And considering that I'm immortal, this hardly means anything to me at all."

"Shit," Link muttered to the table. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What now?" Sheik sighed.

"Can you look and see if there's an ugly kid with freckles and a hat like mine over there?" Link pointed limply. "Probably looks about ten."

Sheik looked. "Hey, yeah. There is! You know him?"

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit _shit_!"

"So...I'm gonna take that as a yes."

"His name is Mido." Link sat up. "And please Nayru, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't let him recognize me."

"Hey Link, is that you!"

"That's it, I'm an atheist."


	5. Growing Pains

5. Growing Pains

Mido had gotten followers.

"How the _hell _did _Mido _get followers!" Link demanded.

"For the last time I don't know!" Sheik cried. "I don't know the guy, and besides you said yourself he bullied people around in your hometown."

"But he's a jerk! Why do people listen to him!"

Sheik shrugged. "A lot of people find it easier to just obey people like him than to argue. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it is."

"Well that _sucks_!"

"Deal with it," Sheik snapped.

The boys were sitting in their room, waiting to be called for highway clean-up duty. Link had been ranting pretty much continuously since Mido had arrived almost a month ago, and Sheik had never seemed to be bothered by it until now.

Link looked at him oddly. "What's wrong Sheik?"

"Nothing's wrong," he almost growled.

"Are you sure? 'Cause you're acting like a little bitch."

Sheik glared at him. "Thanks." He shook his head and started for the door.

"Sheik..."

"What now?"

"Come on, tell me what's wrong."

Sheik's eyes flickered for a moment toward his bed. Then he shook his head and left without a word.

Link stared at the door for a moment, then got up and crossed to Sheik's bed. He checked under the pillow first; nothing. Then he ran his hand under Sheik's mattress. Aha! A book! Link took it out and looked at it.

It was a book from the tiny library in the east wing. The title read, _Your Changing Body and You: A Young Teen's Guide to Puberty_.

There was a bookmark in it, near the middle. Link opened to it and read.

Three sentences later Link dropped the books.

"Okay, _ew_," he said out loud. "Girls bleed every month? From their... _Ew!_" He quickly picked up the book and shoved it back under Sheik's mattress.

Link started to leave the room, it was almost time to go, but paused before opening the door. "But...why on earth would Sheik be reading about _girl's _puberty?" He looked back at the bed. "Well, I guess it's better than not knowing anything about girl's bodies. Sheik said himself he doesn't know anything about them. Come to think of it...neither do I."

Link shrugged and opened the door. _I wonder if Sheik will let me borrow that book..._

zzz

But Link couldn't bring himself to ask about it. He didn't want Sheik to know he'd violated his privacy like that, and besides, considering what the book was about...it was just embarrassing.

So he went to the library himself, though it was little more than a closet full of books, and found a couple on puberty. There were quite a few, and some pamphlets as well. It made sense, considering the ages of the boys, but it still struck Link as excessive.

Of course, by this time Sheik was back to normal. His uncharacteristic bitchiness had barely lasted a week, and now he was acting like nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Link learned what the hell was going on with his body. It was a little startling, and a little hard to believe, but it explained a lot and all the books agreed.

It still didn't explain what was wrong with Sheik.

And then Link got to the chapters on girls, and beyond.

It was eye-opening, and the pictures were fascinating, but it all made sense now. Sheik was freaked out.

Hell, Link was freaked out. Menstruation, STDs, teen pregnancy...sex was scary.

But Link was starting to think it was worth it.

zzz

Sheik glanced nervously around the visiting room before going over and sitting next to Malon. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"It's no problem," she said. "What's up?"

"Well..." Sheik fidgeted nervously. "Can you get me something, and not ask why I need it?"

"No."

"How about getting me something and promising you won't tell anyone. Ever. On pain of...pain."

"Now that I can do. What is it you need?"

"Wait," Sheik cocked his head. "You don't have any problems smuggling stuff in to me?"

"Meh," Malon shrugged her shoulders. "I figure if you're asking me it must be something I can get my hands on easily, so it can't be that bad. And even if it was, I'd still do it."

Sheik couldn't help but stare at her. This was _not _the farm girl he'd thought he'd met. "Why?"

Again she shrugged. "Why not?"

"You have a point..."

"So what was it you needed?"

"Well... It's just... ibuprofen."

"Painkillers? You got pain Sheik?"

"Kinda." He rubbed his neck, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah, I got pain."

"You hurt yourself?"

"No..."

"Then is someone hurting you?"

"Not exactly..."

"Didn't you tell me you knew how to fight?"

"I do, I do, but... well..."

"What? Come on, you can tell me."

Sheik sighed. "The truth is...I think I'm losing my touch."

"What do you mean?"

"I- I've been teaching my friend Link to fight.Have I told you about him?"

"No."

"Well, he's a really great guy who got a bad deal out of life. You'll know him if you see him, he's the guy in the green hat. The _good-looking_ guy in the green hat now I guess."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Point is...Link's real good at fighting. Maybe as good as me."

"Maybe _better _than you?"

"I never said that," Sheik said quickly.

Malon laughed. "So you're sore, is that it?"

"Yeah..."

"Don't you have a way to get ibuprofen yourself? Like, from the infirmary or something?"

"We're not allowed to self-medicate and we have to give a reason for wanting that stuff."

"So just tell them you have a headache."

"It doesn't really work like that..." He rubbed his neck again. "If I ask for it as often as I think I'll have to I doubt they'll believe me about the headaches... Or they might call a doctor, which would be worse."

"Should I bring some tomorrow?"

Sheik grinned. "You're the best Bonanza."

zzz

Picking up trash on the side of the highway, although the only way the boys ever got out of the correctional facility, was not fun. There was no opportunity to fake sword fight with the pokey sticky things, and they didn't get tp choose who they cleaned near. That was how Link wound up next to Mido.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Link hissed at him as soon as the guard watching them moved down the road.

"Serving my time," Mido said smugly. "I burned a building down."

"You what!"

"No one respects me."

"Well, _duh_! You're a little cockroach!"

"Oh, you say that now. But three years ago I had you under my thumb just like everyone else. You may have gotten taller, but inside you're just the same loser Hylian you always were."

Link gritted his teeth and squeezed his stick.

"What's the matter?" Mido grinned. "Haven't you got anything to say?"

"I hate your guts," Link growled, "but I would still rather put up with whatever you have to offer then get thrown in solitary." What he didn't say was that he was already straddling a thin line between staying where he was and getting moved to a different room. He didn't _want _to be taken away from Sheik. Somehow, over the last few years, Sheik had become very important to him, and he didn't even want to _imagine _life without him. And one more step out of line, and he would have to do more than just imagine...

"Pussy," Mido said.

"Since when do you even _know _that word?" Link rolled his eyes.

"Since..." Mido trailed off; he couldn't turn that into an insult. "What do you care?"

"Just curious. How did you find out you could leave the forest anyway?"

"Saria left."

"But Saria's like...Saria."

"So? She's still a Kokiri, not like you."

Link growled in the back of his throat. "You know the worst part of this Mido?"

"The bowel-loosening fear?"

"I'm bigger, stronger, and smarter than you. I could take you no problem now. And yet, if I do, _I'll _be the one to get in trouble."

"You big bully," Mido sniffled and did a reasonable impression of a scared little kid.

Link snorted. "No one will fall for that. You're a Kokiri. You're like three hundred."

"Closer to four actually." Mido grinned. "That's what makes this so cool. Everybody knows Kokiri never leave the forest, so no one came close to suspecting I wasn't a kid. Being in juvie is way better than being in jail. Especially for only six years. And you know something Link?" He inched closer and whispered conspiratorally. "I am going to make your life a living hell."

Link growled and raised his stick in the air.

Mido's eyes widened.

Link swung.

And stopped suddenly.

"Bad idea Link," Sheik said calmly. He pulled the stick from Link's hand and held it away from him. "I don't really want a new roommate, so try not to let the runt get to you. Now," he handed the stick back to Link, "I need to get back to my place before someone notices I'm gone." He stepped back and melted into the shadows.

"Woah," Mido said, staring at the last place Sheik had been.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes. You never really get used to it." Link turned away and stabbed a cigarette butt.

"I'm not going to forget that Link," Mido said ominously. "You really think you can take me out?"

"Yes," Link clenched his stick again. "But I won't. I'm better than that. I'm better than you."

"You are _not _better than me. I am _way _better than you. I have _always _been better than you."

"You're wrong. About that, and about me. Now stop talking before I ram this stick so far up your ass it'll pierce your tongue."

Mido opened his mouth to reply, but the supervisor came back just in time. They spent the rest of the afternoon in sullen silence.

zzz

"Andthen when we got back all his little toadies surrounded him and he started saying this stuff, completely idiotic stuff, but they were all sniggering and pointing at me... I really hate that guy."

The boyswere hanging out in their room again, Link pacing agitatedly.

Shiek sniggered.

"Not you too!"

"No, not you Link," Sheik laughed out loud. "It's just...can you imagine Mido in a normal environment? Like, like, middle school?"

Link laughed too. "He'd never make it!"

Sheik got down on his knees in front of Link and shook a fist at him. "Gimme your lunch money!"

"...I'm like, two feet taller than you."

"...Yeah, whatever, fine. I'll let it slide this time!"

Both boys laughed.

"To be fair though," Link said after a moment. "Neither of us has ever been to middle school either."

"Well, yeah, but...but... We've seen it on TV at least."

"And he hasn't?"

"Mmm..."

Link sighed and turned his face up toward the ceiling, closing his eyes.

The door opened.

For just a moment, the scene was frozen. Sheik on his knees in front of Link, who had his back to the door. Mikau, staring in shock from the doorway at what he thought he was looking at.

Then Sheik looked around Link's hip at the Zora boy. "Uh, hi Mikau."

Mikau backed away slowly from the door, then turned tail and ran.

"Um, Sheik. What just happened?"

"You know Link," Sheik sighed and got to his feet, "You really don't want to know. Now if you'll excuse me I have to chase down Mikau." He started toward the door. "Oh, and if I were you I would start praying that he knows how to keep his mouth shut."

Link blinked. He looked down at the spot where Sheik had been kneeling. "Oh...hell..."


	6. Good Old Platonic Brotherly Love

6. Good Old Platonic Brotherly Love

Months passed and a new year began. Mido got two or three more followers, then ran out of natural toadies to recruit. Sheik had a bit of a growth spurt and was suddenly taller than all the other boys his age. He had managed to catch Mikau and explain away the misunderstanding, and thing were now back to normal.

Except that Mikau was leaving.

It was a good thing, no matter how bad his friends felt. Mikau was happy to be getting out, and Link and Sheik were happy for him. But they couldn't be completely happy. Their little family was breaking up even more and they didn't know what they were going to do.

zzz

In a dark corner of the complex, Sheik met with a potential customer.

"Did you bring it?" the shadowed figure asked.

"Depends, did you bring what I asked for?"

"Right here," he held up a large brown bag. "But you know, if anyone finds out I took these they'll-"

"That's why you're getting the shiv, right?"

"Right." The other boy came forward and handed Sheik the bag

Sheik checked in the bag, removed the contents and examined them for a moment, then nodded. He handed over the makeshift knife.

"Remember," he said. "This never happened."

"Believe me," the unnamed boy said. "I know."

zzz

"Soon we're going to be all alone," Link sighed.

"We have each other," Sheik said. "We'll always have each other."

"I know, and I'm glad, but..."

"Yeah, I know. I'll miss him too."

Both boys sighed.

"One week," Link said.

"Seven days," Sheik added.

"This."

"Sucks."

"You know what else sucks?"

"Hm?"

"Mido."

"Be quiet Link."

"Sorry."

"'S'okay. I still love you."

Link blinked and looked at Sheik sharply, surprised by the way that offhand comment had made the blood rise to his cheeks. Sheik looked completely unperturbed, as thoughwhat he'd saidhad been just as offhand as it had sounded. Link shook his head and decided to say nothing.

zzz

The week passed far too fast, and before they knew it Link, Sheik, and Mikau were gathered in the front hall to say goodbye. Mikau's mother, sister, and another girl that he didn't introduce but was probably a cousin or something, were there. Mikau made a very nice speech about how much he'd learned and how sorry he was to his mother, but when he said goodbye to his friends he promised to bring them firecrackers.

And then he was gone.

"I'm going to cry," Sheik announced.

Link started to laugh, then noticed the quaver of Sheik's voice. "Sheik, man, no. Suck it up."

"I can't." Sheik sniffed hard. "I- I- Oh, dammit." He pulled the collar of his vest up around his nose and mouth, something he still did from time to time, and started back toward their room. "Cover me?" he asked, voice thick with suppressed tears.

"Yeah...sure..."

"Sorry 'bout this, it's just... I- I think I'm coming down with something."

"Oh, of course."

"You- you don't believe me do you?"

"Sorry, but no."

Sheik nodded and wiped his eyes. "Whatever. Just don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't."

Sheik disappeared into the hallway, leaving Link completely alone.

"I care far too much about you to do that to you," he said to the empty room.

Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and went back into the main complex.

zzz

Gardening. If there was anything that could get Link's mind off Mikau's leaving and Sheik's periodic descent into sissiness (it happened about once a month) it was gardening.

Unfortunately, someone had to intrude on that. Fortunately, it was not Mido.

It was a girl.

A Zora girl, to be specific, Link's age or a little older. Link thought is was the same girl he had seen with Mikau's mother and sister earlier. "Psst!" she hissed at him from the other side of the fence. "_Psst_!"

Link sighed and glanced around. No one was watching. He straightened up and moved closer to the fence.

"What?" he asked the girl.

"You a prisoner here?"

Link looked at her for a moment. "You an idiot?"

"What? No!"

"Then why do you think I'm wearing an orange jumpsuit?"

"I...um... So is that a yes?"

Link shook his head. "Wow, I am truly impressed by the magnitude of your stupidity. I almost wish you were a Hylian so I could make the obligatory 'blonde' joke."

"Wha?"

"Never mind. What was it you wanted?"

"Do you know if they hire girls as peer councilors here?"

"Uh, no. I have no idea. Whenever I go to the peer councilor I just zone out, I'm not even sure if they _have _genders."

"That's not very encouraging," the girl frowned.

"It wasn't supposed to be. Now can I go? If anyone sees me talking to you I'll get in big trouble."

"But- but- How am I supposed to find out if I can be a councilor!"

The girl was getting loud so Link shushed her and told her to wait. He worked his way across the garden to Sheik, who had recovered himself.

"Hey Sheik, you know if they hire girls as peer councilors?"

"Well, the councilors are volunteers, so no. But they do have girl peer councilors. I guess to give us perspective. Why?"

"That girl wants to know."

"Girl?" Sheik perked up. "Where?"

Link pointed.

"Oh, a Zora." Sheik looked disappointed. "Oh well, maybe she'll bring some Hylian friends next time."

"You have a problem Sheik."

"I'm a healthy young man. Ask her if she has any hot Hylian friends who want to be peer councilors too."

"I'm not asking her that."

"Pussy."

"Okay, considering our previous topic of conversation that was just... I'm walking away now."

"Good plan"

Link went back over to the Zora girl. "Peer councilors are volunteers. And yes, they take girls."

The girl squealed and Link jumped back, startled. "Thanks so much!" she said. "I didn't want to ask without knowing, I'd look like an idiot!"

"Yeah..." Link stared at her. "Wouldn't want to be doing that."

"See ya!" She ran off.

Link stared after her for a moment, then shook his head. "Women."

zzz

"Hey," Sheik plopped down on the bed beside Link. "What was up with that girl earlier?"

"I dunno," Link shrugged, which was not easy in the position he was in. "She was nuts. I think."

"You think?"

"Well, I don't know many girls. For all I know she was a brilliant example of her species."

"What about Saria?"

"Oh yeah... And your friend Bonanza's not dumb, is she?"

"Far from it."

"So maybe that girl was just completely frickin' insane."

Sheik leaned over and looked Link in the eyes. "Says the boy who's standing on his head, on his bed, leaning on the wall for support."

"You have no right to judge me!" Link shouted. Unfortunately that caused him to lose his balance and topple over, sending Sheik into peals of laughter.

Link flopped down on Sheik's bed and waited for his friend to stop laughing. It took awhile, but when he did he apologized and Link forgave him.

"You know, I just wish I could meet a nice, normal girl, preferably good-looking, who isn't my surrogate sister, insane, or yours."

"Mmm," Sheik muttered. "Girls like that do exist, I know, but you're not likely to meet one here... Wait, what was that last one?"

"Last what?"

"You said 'yours.' Who's mine?"

"Well, that Bonanza girl. Isn't she..."

"No! What? No! She's- She's not... I mean..."

"It's okay man," Link laughed at how flustered Sheik had gotten. "But why not?"

"Well...for starters...I like blondes."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Me too!"

"Really?"

"Yup. No reason why, but I do."

"Cool."

"So what's the other reason?"

"Huh?"

"You said 'for starters.'"

"Oh. Yeah. Well if you must know..."

"I must."

"There's, uh, someone else."

"Someone?" Link sat up abruptly. "What do you mean? Who?"

"Just- just someone."

"Anyone I know?"

"No...not really..."

"But...who do you know that I don't? And you've been here since you were ten, how could you have a girlfriend?"

"I don't exactly. More of a...a guaranteed lay."

Link stared at his friend, an arc of green fire racing through his heart. "A..._what_?" he said slowly.

"A- a guaranteed lay. There's someone that I am sure, completely positive, will sleep with me the day I get out of here."

Link clenched his fists, hard, digging his fingernails into his palms. "And you didn't feel it necessary to tell me this?"

"Well, no, not really. You did?"

"It would have been nice to know," Link said through clenched teeth.

"You okay Link?"

"Fine!"

"Don't sound fine."

"I'm just..." He sighed and tried to calm down. He unclenched his fists and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm kinda jealous."

Sheik laughed. "Trust me Link, you don't need to be jealous."

"Oh no? I doubt very much I'm going to lose my virginity before I'm thirty."

Sheik laughed even louder. "Link, when's the last time you looked in a mirror?"

"Uh, a couple weeks ago, why?"

"Just trust me on this, you do not need to worry about getting women. Or men for that matter."

"Sheik!"

Sheik just laughed.

"Come on, you know I'm not...not..."

"Yeah, I know. In fact...reach under my mattress."

"Huh?"

"I'm willing to share, as long as you don't get 'em all sticky."

"Get..._what_...all sticky?"

"Check under the mattress."

Link leaned over and rooted around under there, and soon pulled out...

"_Cosmo_?"

"Three issues of _Cosmo_, two of _Playboy_, and one of _Maxim_."

"Wh-where did you get these?" Link stared at the half-dressed Hollywood hottie on the cover.

"Traded my shiv for 'em."

"But- but that was your pride and joy!"

"Meh, I can always make another one."

Quickly, Link glanced at Sheik's bedposts. There was another one missing. "You did already."

"Well..."

"You gave him the new one."

"The crappier one," Sheik corrected with a grin.

Link laughed. "I love you Sheik."

Sheik smiled a little. "I know."

zzz

Link reported to peer counciling, just like always. There was a Zora girl there, not like always.

"Oh hey, it's you!" she said cheerfully. She glanced at her notes. "You're Link?"

"Dammit!" Link exclaimed.

"That's rude!" the girl sniffed.

"Sorry, it's just...crap."

The girl patted the seat in front of her. "Sit, talk, tell me about the crap."

Link sighed resignedly and sat. "It's really none of your business. And isn't this peer-counciling stuff normally done in groups?"

"Oh, well, I mentioned that it seemed like some of the guys could just zone out during the sessions, so..."

Link glared at her.

"Um, sorry?" She smiled disarmingly.

Link slumped in his chair. "So now what? I've never paid attention at one of these things before."

"Uh, well, I think we just talk about your problems."

Link waved a hand, as though brushing that aside. "I worked out all my problems years ago."

"Then what about the crap?"

Link opened his mouth to reply, then closed it abruptly.

"Well?"

"It's nothing you need to know about."

"But I'm your _peer_!"

"You're a Zora chick. How are you anything like me?"

"I ran away from home."

Link stared at her for a moment, then rearranged himself in his chair, settling in for the long haul. "On my first day here in juvie I met this guy named Sheik. He was really nice and really funny and over the years I think I've come to depend on him..."


	7. Hi Mom

7. Hi Mom

Mido was biding his time, Link was sure of it. He'd been there almost two years, and yet he still hadn't done anything spectacularly humiliating or cruel to Link. Sheik had suggested that the guy had just forgotten about Link, but Link was _waaaay _too paranoid to consider that possibility.

So he watched and waited as Mido hung around with his little toadies, most of whom were taller than him, and pushed around the younger kids.

"You'd think someone would have noticed that he hasn't grown an inch by now," Link muttered. They were hanging out in the visiting room again, and Sheik was luckily in a forgiving mood, rather than his occasional bitch-mode.

"According to the records he's only like twelve. He could still pass for twelve."

"But they'll notice eventually!" Link looked at his friend. "Right?"

Sheik shrugged. "Maybe they'll think he's got one of those, uh, kidney diseases or something. You know, like that little actor dude."

"But then they'll call a doctor, right?"

"Sure, probably."

"And they'll figure out he's a Kokiri and send him to real jail!"

"Keep on dreaming buddy."

"I will thanks."

Sheik shivered suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"I don't know," Sheik frowned. "I just got this feeling like-" He stopped abruptly as a shadow fell across them.

"So," a voice said. "Here you are."

Without warning Sheik screamed and leapt onto Link's lap, clinging to him in fear. Link, startled, looked at the person who had scared Sheik so badly.

It was a woman, in her late thirties perhaps, very tall and muscular, with silver hair and red eyes. She was a Sheikah, and she was giving Sheik the most disapproving glare Link had ever seen.

"What are _you _doing here!" Sheik exclaimed, still clinging to Link.

"I finally managed to track you down," the woman said. "That was a foolish thing you did." She turned up the glare.

"It didn't work out so bad," Sheik defended himself. "This is as good a place as any."

"I do not believe I know any people who would agree with you," the woman sniffed. "_Why _did you break into a _post _office?"

"I couldn't let that letter reach my parents."

"So you broke into the post office!"

"You know what they would have done!"

Her expression softened slightly. "You did not have to run away. We could have worked something out."

"Worked what out, Impa?" Sheik snapped. "You didn't understand then and I doubt very much you do now. I'm much better off here."

Link couldn't take it any more, he had to interrupt. "Um, Sheik? I appreciate the affection but you're crushing me. Get off please?"

Sheik made a startled exclamation and scrambled off his friend. "Sorry Link, I didn't think."

"'S'okay." Link shifted in his seat as Sheik and the woman called Impa continued their conversation.

Impa glanced around, looked Link up and down, then leaned down close to Sheik. "Is he trustworthy?"

"Him?" Sheik looked at Link. "I'd trust him with my life."

Link beamed.

"But would you trust him with anything else?" Impa asked seriously.

"Of course." Sheik looked thoughtfully around the room. "But...not while I'm here."

Impa leaned in even closer. "I could get you out you know. All I would have to do is-"

"Impa!" Sheik snapped. Link was startled by the imperiousness of his tone, but it seemed to have the desired effect.

Impa stood up straight and looked chagrined. "Forgive me, you're right. I did not think."

"It's all right," Sheik said. "But you need to accept that I'm here to stay. I. Will. Be. Fine."

"You had better be."

"I am."

Impa pressed her lips together and glanced at Link.

"I'm not sending him away," Sheik said firmly.

"But-"

"_No_."

Impa sighed. "Yes you- uh, Sheik."

Sheik sniffed.

"You know," Link said nervously. "I can leave, if you guys need to talk."

"You don't have to," Sheik said softly.

Link looked at him, suddenly overwhelmed with fondness. "No, it's okay. If you need to be alone..."

"So I'll see you later?" The question seemed very important to Sheik.

"Yeah, yeah of course."

"'Kay."

Rather reluctantly, Link left.

He flopped down on a couch in the common room. A moment later a small boy came up and leaned on the back of the couch, staring at him.

"Heya Skull Kid," Link said.

"Heya," Skull Kid said. Sheik had come up with any number of good nicknames for the boy, but he still insisted on being known only at "Skull Kid."

"Why you staring at me Skull Kid?" Link asked.

"'Cause."

"'Cause why?"

Skull Kid was silent for a long moment. "Will you teach me to be like you?"

Link stared back at the small boy. "Why would you want to be like me?"

"'Cause you're cool."

Link laughed wryly. "I am not cool."

"Sure you are. You stick up for the little guys like me." This was true. For the last few years Link had made a habit of keeping the older boys from picking on the younger ones. It got easier as he got older, and now, at fifteen, it was almost _too _easy.

"So? I'm sure lots of people would do that."

"Not in here. People are mean in here."

"What did you do Skull Kid?"

"Huh?"

"To get in juvie, what did you do?"

Skull Kid shrugged. "I stole some stuff. And I knew it was bad, so they found me guilty."

"You're what, seven?"

"Eight."

"So you must have stolen a _lot _to get in here for any time at all."

"I stole...um...a horse, and all the stuff on the horse, and some money, and, um, some toys, and..."

"Okay, I get the idea. You're a klepto."

"A what?"

"It means you can't stop stealing."

"Sure I can."

"Give me my hat back."

"Oh...you noticed that huh?"

"Yeah. Now give."

"Sorry sir."

"Don't call me sir. It's terrifying."

zzz

Link didn't see Sheik again until the were out on highway cleaning duty that afternoon. As luck would have it they were actually beside each other for once, and Link couldn't have been happier. He managed to hide it well though.

"So who was that woman and why were you so scared of her?" he asked

Sheik sighed. "That was Impa, she's, uh, kind of my mom."

"Kind of?"

"She raised me, but she's not my real mom."

"I see... And the reason you were so scared of her?"

Sheik grinned sheepishly. "She's the one who taught me how to fight."

"Yikes."

"No kidding."

"She was kinda hot though."

Sheik stared at him in horror.

"For a mom I mean!"

Sheik kept right on staring.

"I mean, um, if she wasn't like your mom I...I..."

Sheik began to slowly back away.

"You suck."

"No, I don't."

"And that's why you suck."

There was a long pause while both boys though about all possible interpretations of Link's statement.

"Um, th- that's not what I..."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I know."

Link gulped hard. _Don't think of it, don't think of it, don't think of it... Dammit! Okay, I'm not turned on, I'm not turned on, I'm not turned on... God I hate being a teenager._

zzz

"The fact that _you_, my _sister_, and that chick _Bonanza _are the only girls I have seen in person in five years is pretty much the _worst _part of this _whole _deal!" Link raged to Ruto, the Zora girl.

"Well it's not like there's much I can do about it," Ruto _hmph_ed. "Most of my friends are Zoras, and I doubt very much that my telling them you're horny as hell is going to encourage them to volunteer."

"Good point..." Link slumped back in his chair. "But you know the _worst _part?"

"Hm?"

"Sheik's got that little hoe waiting for him as soon as he gets out! I keep thinking of how Sheik will lose his virginity before I will, and that he knows _exactly _when!"

"So you keep thinking of Sheik having sex?"

"_Yes_! I mean it's like it's stuck in my brain! I...can't..." Link looked at Ruto sharply. She was grinning. "That's not what I meant!"

Ruto laughed. "I know, I know, but it's so much fun to make fun of you. And you're so _cute _when you blush!"

"I'm not blushing!" Link exclaimed, blushing furiously.

"To be fair, I can understand why you'd think about it."

"Huh?"

"Sheik is _very _pretty. With that hair of his, and those eyes. And he's fairly short."

"Yeah, it's weird. A couple years ago he was taller than everyone, but now he's almost stopped growing. And he's only 5' 6"!"

"Hm, weird. That's kinda short even for a girl."

"Yeah..." Link trailed off and stared into space.

"You're think about Sheik as a girl, aren't you?" Ruto asked knowingly.

"What! No!"

"Ah, your voice says 'No,' but your crotch says 'Dear god, yes!'"

Link grabbed a pillow and put it in his lap, blushing again. "Sometimes I really hate you Ruto."

"And yet you keep telling me all this personal stuff. Either you're a glutton for punishment or you really need a journal."

"A...journal?"

"Yeah. Somewhere to write all your most personal thoughts and feelings, where you can sort out all your conflicting emotions and figure out what the hell is going on in your head."

"Well, that would be nice... Especially since I seem to be sorely lacking a shoulder angel and devil."

"Most people are," Ruto said sagely. "So you want me to bring you one?"

"Yes please. With a lock. A big one."

"No prob."

zzz

Link's Journal, Entry 1

_So here I am, writing in a journal. It feels sort of girly, but I suppose if it helps me figure out what the hell is going with me it's okay._

_Sheik's my best friend, and he has been for five years now. Ever since the day I met him we've been inseparable, and I like it that way. I really don't know what I would do if I lost him; the very idea is frightening. I guess in a lot of ways he's like my brother, but for some reason I don't like to think of him that way._

_Maybe it's because we're more like two parts of the same whole, or something like that._

_God, I really do__sound like a girl._


	8. Mix 'n' Match

8. Mix 'n' Match

About two months into Link and Sheik's sixth year, the twins showed up.

They were a year or two younger than Link, very quiet and a little bit creepy. They were identical twins, the type that moved in unison, were always together, and finished each others sentences, though the twins spoke rarely if at all.

They were physically identical as well, and rather difficult to tell apart. They both had shoulder-length blond hair, wide ruby-colored eyes, slim muscular figures, and perfect golden tans. They were so pretty that most of the boys had no trouble admitting they were attracted to them, and the twins didn't seem to mind. No one knew what they had done to get in juvie, or how long they were in for, but their eerie calm led many to believe they were murderers.

They were Sheikah.

That was what drew them to Sheik. They sought him out, in their own quiet way, and within ten minutes Sheik had nicknamed them Smith and Wesson. They loved the names, and refused to answer to anything else. Link didn't even know their real names.Few did.

They followed Sheik everywhere, were his loyal servants and devoted followers. They still spoke rarely to most people, but they had many long whispered conversations with Sheik. Once or twice Link overheard them, and figured out that they were catching Sheik up on all the gossip.

They called him "Boss."

Link was insanely jealous of them.

He tried to tell himself it was just because they were so good-looking, and because they had that slightly spooky mystique about them that made others fear them. Some people feared Link, but not they way they feared the twins. Their nicknames certainly helped that.

But sometimes, late at night, Link had to admit to himself that the real reason he was so jealous was that they had stolen Sheik away from him.

Many people couldn't tell Smith and Wesson apart at all, and most that could went by which side they parted their hair on (Smith was left, Wesson was right). They didn't know that the twins parted their hair completely arbitrarily. But Sheik could tell them apart seemingly without any trouble at all, and eventually Link learned the subtle differences as well. For example, Wesson was just a bit prettier than Smith, a fact that Link blamed purely on genetics since Smith took more care with his appearance.

It was very strange to see Sheik wandering around with his two little identical shadows, especially when Link was used to having Sheik to himself. So he took to glowering at the twins whenever he saw them, and made it as clear as he could that he didn't appreciate their intrusion on his world.

He didn't tell Ruto about it, but she knew something was up. Even Sheik, happy as he was with his new friends, noticed how quiet Link was at their morning sparring sessions, which was what the fighting lessons had recently become. Link said nothing to anyone. Instead, he poured all his feelings into his journal, which was quickly filling up.

He'd just decided that maybe all this was silly and he should just give up hope of ever having Sheik to himself again, when Tagger came back.

Tagger had gotten his nickname from what he was in for the first time Link and Sheik had met him. It was the same thing he was in for this time, and the same thing he'd been in for the last three times.

"Tagging," he said, "is an art. No, a way of life."

"Right, sure man, whatever you say," Link said.

"It is!" Tagger insisted.

"I know. I believe you."

"You do not!"

Link laughed. "Okay, you got me. So explain it to me."

Tagger stared off into space like a man close to achieving nirvana. "When I'm tagging a building or a car or a train or whatever, it's like I'm putting a little piece of myself into it. Like it's becoming something more than it was, because now it's...tagged."

Link cocked his head. "What are you on and where can I get some?"

"I'm not on anything!"

"He's just passionate," a soft voice said.

"It's good to feel that strongly about something," an almost identical voice added.

"Even if it is illegal."

"At least it's harmless."

"True."

Link glared at Smith and Wesson. "What do you two want?" he snapped.

They just blinked at him.

"Well?"

"Nothing," they said at the same time.

"And stop doing that!" Link shouted.

"Doing what?" they asked, still in unison.

Link sighed. "Where's Sheik?" he asked.

"Visiting his friend," Smith said.

"Bonanza?" Link asked.

"No," Wesson said.

"Miss Impa," Smith corrected.

"She's very kind."

"But they needed to talk alone."

"Hmph," Link folded his arms and slumped in his seat. "So Tagger," he turned to the other boy and deliberately ignored the twins. "If tagging stuff is so important to you, why don't you do it in a way that's not, you know, illegal?"

"What, you mean like an artist?" Tagger snorted. "No one thinks of what I do as art."

"Well just tag something other than buildings."

"Like what?"

"Umm..."

"People," a voice said. Link turned and saw Sheik standing behind them.

"Sheik!" he exclaimed.

"_People_?" Tagger repeated. "You expect me to tag _people_?"

"Sure, why not?" Sheik slid over the back of the couch and planted himself between Link and Tagger. Link tried to pretend he wasn't aware of the warmth of Sheik's thigh against his. "People do it all the time."

"They do?" Tagger asked.

"Sure." Sheik grinned. "It's called 'tattooing.'"

Tagger stared at him. "Tattooing?" He blinked and stared off into space. "Tattooing..." A slow smile spread across his face. "Yeah...yeah that's perfect! It means even more when it means something to the person too."

"So you gonna do it?"

"Absolutely!" Tagger was positively grinning now. "It's, like, my calling..."

"In that case," Sheik grinned too. "I have a proposition for you..."

zzz

It took a bit of work to convince Bonanza to smuggle in tattooing tools, but Sheik knew which buttons to press and within a week Tagger had translated his mad graffiti skillz to tattoos and was open for business. Naturally, since all the boys in the facility were underage, what he was doing was illegal, but if no one fingered him he couldn't get in trouble.

After another couple of weeks only a quarter of the boys had gotten tattoos, and no one had gotten one that they didn't want to get. Tagger had such a high moral code that he actually turned aside some of the younger boys, and all those who wanted to get tattoos of things he knew they would regret (like pirate dinosaurs and girl's names).

Smith and Wesson expressed some interest in matching tattoos, but couldn't think of anything good to get, and Sheik told Link later that Wesson had remembered their mother would kill them.

"I'm actually thinking of getting a tattoo," Sheik said, with exaggerated casualness.

Link stared at him. "You're kidding right?"

"No, I think it would be cool."

"But...what would you get it of?"

"Well..."

"You're not just thinking of getting a tattoo for the sake of getting a tattoo are you?"

"No..."

"Because that's dumb."

Sheik sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest. They were in their room, waiting for lights out, both sitting on Sheik's bed. "I guess I kinda want to rebel."

"Sheik, you're in juvie. You don't get much more rebellious than that."

"Yeah, but Impa has gotten it in her head that this was all intentional, because I knew it would... I mean, never mind."

"Knew it would what?" Link asked.

"Nothing."

"No Sheik, not nothing." Link leaned towards him. "Knew it would what?" he said seriously.

Sheik shook his head, then leaned his forehead against his knees.

Link felt a horrible empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He and Sheik were close together, but Link had never felt farther away from him.

"Please Sheik..." he said softly. "You can tell me. I...want you to tell me things."

"I know Link," Sheik's voice was muffled. "But I can't. Not now."

"Then when?"

Sheik was silent for a long moment. "I...don't know."

Link was silent for a moment too. "I see." He got up and headed toward his own bed, then stopped when Sheik grabbed his hand.

Link had not held Sheik's hand since they had shaken on that first day. He was not surprised to find that it was stronger now, and calloused, but it was still soft, and warm...

"Let's get tattoos together," Sheik said, his forehead still on his knees. "Matching ones. The Triforce on the backs of our hands. Because you're the Legendary Hero and I'm...someone who would help you in your quest."

"I'm not on a quest," Link said, not looking back at the other boy. "I'm not a hero. And you're still not telling me anything."

"I can't Link. I want to, so much, but I can't. It's nothing so important but... Link I- I-"

Link shook his hand free of Sheik's, and for a moment Sheik thought his heart was breaking, then he felt strong hands on his shoulders and looked up into Link's smiling face.

"If you say I'm a hero, I suppose I ought to believe you. You do seem to know things like that."

"I do," Sheik said, daring to hope. "It's part of what I can't tell you. I know things."

"I believe you." Link stood up, still smiling. "Let's do it, let's get tattoos."

Sheik beamed.

"But you have to promise me one thing."

"Anything," Sheik said recklessly.

"Smith and Wesson can't know about this. This is just for you and me."

"Sure."

That night, Link dreamed of Sheik and his "guaranteed lay." Sheik did too.

zzz

"Cold feet," Link muttered. "This was your idea and you're getting cold feet."

"I am _not _getting cold feet!" Sheik shouted. "I just want this to be perfect, which is why I want to wait."

"Um, guys," Tagger frowned at them. "You're holding up the line."

There was no one else in the room.

"What line?" Sheik demanded.

"Figure of speech," Tagger said calmly. "Now do you want to do this or not?"

"We do," Sheik said firmly, "but we can't yet."

"Oh we can so," Link folded his arms.

"No we can't! We need yellow, or gold. Preferably gold."

Tagger held up the non-toxic ballpoint pens he used for his art. "I have black."

"That's not enough!"

"Why not?" Tagger asked. "Tattooing the Triforce would be the easiest thing in the world, it's just triangles for crying out loud! Even if you do want it on the backs of your hands I'll still have no problem. I can even do some hatching shading if you want. Why is yellow so important?"

"I just...want it to be perfect," Sheik said uncomfortably. "I mean, it's permanent... and... it's important."

"Important," Tagger repeated. He sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can do if you want yellow ink. I wouldn't even know where to find it."

"Sheik, can I talk to you for a second?" Link jerked his thumb toward the door.

"Sure." Sheik followed him out.

"This is really important to you, isn't it?" Link asked once they were alone.

"Yeah," Sheik nodded, not meeting Link's eyes.

"Why?"

"Because..." Sheik rubbed his arm. "This is...ours."

"Ours?"

"Yours and mine. That's why..."

"I see."

For a moment neither one of them said anything. Then Link spoke.

"I know where to get yellow ink."

zzz

"She has green hair and her name is Saria," Link said to Bonanza. "Even if she's not there one of the others will know where she is."

"I just don't know..." Bonanza fiddled with her skirt. "I mean, smuggling is one thing, but going on a manhunt?"

"It's not a manhunt," Link rolled his eyes. "You just need to tell her I need to see her."

"Please?" Sheik said. "It's important."

Bonanza seemed to be swayed for a moment, then shook her head. "I just don't think I can go all the way to the Kokiri Forest. I mean, they don't like visitors, and I have chores...and...stuff..."

Sheik knew Bonanza well enough by now to know her resolve was faltering. "But Bonanza, you're the only one who can do this for us. For...me."

Flattery will get you everywhere.

Three days later Saria showed up, and once again both Link and Sheik came to meet her.

"Saria," Link said, "this is going to sound very strange, but we need some of that saffron ink you made that one time."

"Saffron ink?" she repeated. "Well sure, but why?"

"It's for a friend of ours," Link bent the truth smoothly, "he's an artist and he needs yellow ink, preferably non-toxic. Saffron is edible, so it's about as non-toxic as a thing can get. Please?"

"Sure Link, no problem."

"Thanks Saria," Link bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Only Sheik seemed to noticed that she flushed, and his only response was to clench his fists.

"I- I'll bring the ink for you the day after tomorrow," Saria said, recovering herself. "How much do you need?"

Link opened his mouth, closed it, and looked at Sheik.

Sheik stared at the back of his hand for a moment before answering. "A couple of cups should be plenty."

"All right, see you in a couple days."

"Bye Saria," the boys waved goodbye.

"You know what I just realized?" Link asked.

"Hm?"

"I'm way taller than her."

"No shit Link. You're sixteen. She's a Kokiri. Do the math."

"Math?"

"Never mind."

No one had noticed the bit of green fabric peeking over the top of a chair nearby.

zzz

Mido had recruited Skull Kid only a few weeks ago, because of the smaller boy's nimble fingers. Skull Kid would have a small, but crucial, part in this latest plan of the Kokiri's.

Link was paranoid, there was no doubt about that, but it didn't mean he was wrong. Mido had been biding his time.

"Your job, Skull Kid, will be to place this," Mido held a small, seemingly innocuous item out to the boy, "in Link's pocket."

"But what if Link doesn't have pockets?" Skull Kid asked, all innocence.

Mido blinked at him. "We all wear the same clothes, Kid. We _all _have pockets."

"Oh yeah," Skull Kid smiled sweetly. He was an adorable kid, that was for sure, but Mido couldn't be swayed by things like that.

He shook his head. "Just do your job, I'll worry about the rest."

"'Kay." Skull Kid took the object and put it in his own pocket for now. "But when should I do it?"

Mido frowned, thinking. "Well...the rest of the plan won't go into effect for at least a couple of days, so... Around noon, two days from now."

"Sure thing Boss!"

zzz

For once, Link suspected nothing. Nothing about Mido, nothing about Skull Kid, nothing about his deep attachment to Sheik, which seemed to be growing deeper every day. His journal was a confused jumble of daily events and half-conscious ramblings he did by flashlight at three in the morning, when his feelings found him most vulnerable.

He had strange dreams sometimes. Dreams of fire, dreams of water, dreams of battle, dreams of love. Once or twice he'd dreamed of saving the world. Those dreams were silly of course, and Link blamed Sheik for all his old stories of heroes and princesses. The only real princess Link knew of was still in hiding, no one had seen her for years.

Saria seemed like a princess the day she arrived with the ink. It was, as she'd said, easy enough to make, but it meant so much to Sheik that Link couldn't help but get caught up in it.

He couldn't help teasing her a little though. "You won't believe what this is going to cause," he said with a grin. "I can't wait to see the look on your face."

"What are you talking about?" Saria frowned. "I thought you said that ink was for your artist friend."

"Oh, it is, but it involves me and Sheik too. Why else would _we _have asked you?" He grinned broader. "You really will be surprised."

"Link! You aren't doing something bad are you?"

"Um, no?" His grin turned sheepish. "Not really. I can make my own decisions can't I?"

Saria sighed. "Not like I can stop you. I just...don't want you doing anything you'll regret."

That got Link thinking. A tattoo was forever. A real never-go-back situation. And he was getting it on the back of his hand, where it could be seen by anyone at any time. Did he really want that?

But it was the Triforce. Looking religious wasn't a bad thing, even if he wasn't particularly devout. Besides, it was important to Sheik. Even though the eye of truth was more of a Sheikah symbol, he had suggested the Triforce for them, because Link was not a Sheikah. The Triforce was worshiped by everyone. And now, it would be their symbol.

Theirs.

This tattoo was theirs. Their link to each other. Forever.

"I won't regret this," Link said, unaware of the dreamy look on his face. "No way."

"All right then Link," Saria said, looking at him warily. "If you're sure."

He nodded. "I am. I...really am."

zzz

When Saria got back to the forest everyone wanted to hear her report. She was very vague about where Link lived, and would only tell them that he was safe, and happy, and had new friends.

But today when she returned there was the oddest look on her face. As though she was shocked and bemused and sad and happy all at once, and honestly didn't know which she should feel.

"What happened Saria?" Tido asked.

She shook her head, that same odd expression on her face. "I think... I think Link might be in love."

zzz

With the ink, Link and Sheik went to Tagger to finally get their tattoos. On their way through the common area Skull Kid ran up and tried to ask where they were going, but Link just shoved the boy off playfully and didn't answer.

Tagger only needed a few minutes to clean his needles and get some fresh ink. "Who first?" he asked, looking at his latest customers.

Link and Sheik looked at each other.

"Me," they said in unison.

Tagger laughed. "Try rock paper scissors," he suggested.

They did, and Sheik won. He sat at the little card table across from Tagger and laid his hand flat on it. First, Tagger drew a picture of the Triforce. It was very good, perfectly balanced and just the right size. Tagger picked up his needle.

"Now, this is only going to hurt for a while," he said reassuringly. "But _damn_, will it hurt."

Sheik bit his lip and said nothing.

Before Link knew what he was doing he was standing beside Sheik with his hand outstretched. "Squeeze as hard as you want," he said.

Sheik smiled gratefully and took the other boy's hand with his free one.

The tattooing didn't take long, but Sheik took full advantage of Link's offer. He gritted his teeth, but when it was all over he grinned up at his friend and said, "Easy as hell."

Link made a face that was halfway between a grimace and a grin. "My turn."

After Sheik's hand was cleaned and bandaged he got up and let Link sit down.

"Want my hand?" Sheik asked.

"Not the tattooed one," Tagger warned.

"Of course not," Sheik rolled his eyes.

Tagger had been right about the pain, getting jabbed repeatedly with a needle is bound to hurt, but Link gritted his teeth and squeezed Sheik's hand and tried to take his mind off it.

He focused on Sheik's hand. It was soft and warm and strong, and he hadn't noticed before how much smaller than his own it was. Also, it was shaking, just a bit. Link eased his grip.

Sheik flashed that same grateful smile and for a moment Link really did forget everything but Sheik's smile...

"All done," Tagger announced, wiping the last of the blood off Link's hand with antiseptic. "Make sure you guys keep 'em clean, and keep 'em covered for at least a few days. Oh, and you might want to-"

But they never found out what they might want to do, because suddenly the door burst open and Mido and a trio of his toadies charged in.

"Caught you red-handed!" Mido crowed. "You know it's illegal to tattoo minors, and it's just as illegal to aid someone in it!"

"Oh it is not," Sheik sighed.

"How do you know?"

"Well, uh... How do _you _know _you're _right?"

Mido grinned. "Doesn't matter. Boys..."

They attacked.

Tagger, who may have been the smartest of them all, ran for it as soon as he could, stopping only long enough to grab the most important of his tools. Sheik and Link meanwhile, were busy with Mido and his toadies. Though all of the boys were smaller than Sheik and Link, there were more of them and they knew how to fight as well.

"I _told _you he was biding his time!" Link shouted, shaking one of the boys off his arm.

"Not now," Sheik snapped.

"Hey!" Mido had dipped a hand in Link's pocket. "What the-"

"Not there," Mido muttered.

Link tried to grab Mido but he ducked around to his other side and reached in his other pocket. "What the _hell _do you think you're doing!" Link demanded.

"Damn!" Mido shouted. "Where did he- _Uhn_!"

Link had landed a punch. "Get you _friggin_' hands off me!" he shouted.

"Fine," Mido stuck a hand in his own pocket and removed a small object. "I'll just have to do it myself!" He lunged.

Link dodged and grabbed his arm. "What is that?" he looked at the object. "A shiv?"

"No!" Sheik gasped. He was struggling under the other three boys. "No, Link!"

Mido flicked his wrist and a bright blade sprung from the small object. He wrenched his arm from Link's grasp and drove it toward his stomach. Link just barely managed to dodge, and when he tried to hit back he just threw himself even further off balance.

Mido swung with the switchblade again.

Link wouldn't be able to dodge this time.

But Sheik had an ace up his sleeve, always.

There was a flash of bright light in the room, temporarily blinding everyone. When it cleared Sheik was nowhere to be seen and Link was on the floor, having fallen, but Mido didn't notice the other boy's absence. He just grinned and struck at Link.

Then Sheik reappeared, right in the blade's path.

Mido managed to shift in mid-stab, so that Sheik's stomach was only grazed, but the blade caught on Sheik's vest and tore it almost in half.

"Friggin' _ow!_" Sheikexclaimed as he hit the ground. He clutched at his midsection and gritted his teeth. "Okay, if I get a scar you are _so _dead."

"Sheik!" Link exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Mm, I think so," he muttered.

Link glared at Mido. "You tried to kill me."

"I was aiming for your arm!"

"You stabbed Sheik."

"_Cut_! I _cut _Sheik!"

"I am going to frickin' kick your ass!"

And he did.

zzz

It took some time, and in the end it only stopped because Tagger returned and said the guards were coming, but Link and Sheik felt comfortable calling themselves the winners. Sure they had a few scrapes and bruises, and Sheik's cut, which wasn't that bad but bled for awhile, but they still came out of it better than Mido and his cronies. Their biggest loss was Sheik's vest.

It was completely shredded. Mido had kept flailing around with his switchblade until it was knocked out of his hand, and Sheik had pulled his shiv to fight back. In the process of the fight Sheik's vest had taken a lot of damage.

Later, in their room, Sheik sat on his bed and looked at the torn and blood-stained remains of the only physical reminder of his Sheikah heritage. At least he wasn't crying.

"This sucks," Sheik sighed. "What am I supposed to tell Impa?"

"You know that thing was too small for you," Link said. "It had been for ages."

"I know, but it meant a lot to me. The eye of truth..." He sighed again, then look at the back of his hand, which was still bandaged. "At least I've got this. It may not be Sheikah, but it's there forever." Suddenly he grinned. "Oh man, maybe Impa will forget about the vest when she sees this."

"You've still got me you know," Link said as casually as he could. Then he grinned."If you need to be reminded of your heritage I can always start addressing you by racial slurs."

Sheik laughed. "Do you even _know _any racial slurs?"

"Weeell... No. But I can probably learn some."

"I'd really rather you didn't." He smiled fondly. "But I appreciate the offer. You're a good friend, Link."

Something about that statement bothered Link, but he didn't have a clue what.

The call for lights out echoed down the hallway, and Link and Sheik crawled into bed. Link sighed softly as his head sunk into his pillow. He realized that he hadn't thought about the twins once all day, and didn't much feel like thinking about them now.

There was something unbelievably comforting about sleeping beside Sheik, though he would never admit to it.

zzz

A week later the bandages came off and the two boys could admire their tattoos.

"This is so cool!" Link couldn't stop grinning. "I really look like a legendary hero!"

"You know, you're right. You really do." Sheik put his hand beside Link's and compared the two. "Maybe because your hands are so huge."

"My hands are not huge," Link sniffed. "Yours are just tiny."

"Are not."

"Are so."

"Are not."

"Are so."

"Boss?" A soft voice interrupted their bickering.

The two boys turned and saw Smith and Wesson standing at attention. "Can we talk to you?" Wesson asked.

"Of course," Sheik said.

The twins looked at each other. "Alone, please?" Smith asked.

Sheik looked at Link. Link nodded. "No problem guys." Sheik got up and followed them.

As soon as Sheik was gone, Skull Kid bounded up and plopped on the couch next to Link. "Guess what?" he asked cheerfully.

"What?" Link sighed.

"You owe me! Big time."

"Do I now?"

"Yah. Mido wanted me to put this thingie in your pocket, but I didn't." Skull Kid handed Link a small object.

Link stared at it. It was a different style from the one Mido had pulled, but it was unmistakably a switchblade. Mido had been trying to frame him.

Link gulped. "Um, Skull Kid, you should put this away. Or throw it away, that would be good."

"How come?"

"You just...you don't want anyone to see that you have that, okay?"

"'Kay." Skull Kid took it back and put it in his pocket.

"Do you know where Mido got it?" Link asked.

"Sure, I got it for him. Outta that room where they put the stuff they take away from people."

Link shook his head. "Don't do stuff like that, Kid," he said. "First of all, it's not good to have weapons in here. Second, imagine what it would be like if somebody stole something from you."

"I'd just steal it back."

"But what if you couldn't? What if somebody stole something from you and you could never get it back? Not ever."

"That would be bad..." Skull Kid looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, which is why stealing is bad."

"Wow." Skull Kid scratched his head. "You're really smart Link."

"Mm, not really. I've just seen a lot. You learn stuff when you hang out with criminals all day."

"Like me?"

"Not like you anymore, right Kid?"

"Right Link!"

zzz

Much to his surprise, the twins led Sheik to the entrance hall. "What's up guys?" Sheik asked.

"We're leaving," Smith said.

"We're done." Wesson added.

"We were only in for three months."

"Sorry, we forgot to remind you."

"Forgive us Boss?"

"Please?"

"Yeah..." Sheik said. "Of course, but...well...I'll miss you."

"We'll miss you too, Boss." The twins glanced at each other, then looked around. The hall was empty.

"Boss?" Wesson stepped closer to him.

"Yeah?" Sheik replied.

Wesson reached out and took Sheik's face between his hands. He pulled it down, just a little, and kissed the older boy on the mouth.

Immediately Shiek slammed his fist into Wesson's face, knocking him away. "What the _hell _do you-"

Smith got there before Sheik could finish, grabbing him and kissing him just as his brother had done.

This time Sheik punched the boy in the stomach, hard. "You little _bastards_! What makes you think you-"

"You're not very good at hiding it you know," Wesson said.

Sheik blinked. "I- I'm not hiding anything."

"We knew from the start there was something different about you. We followed you because we like and respect you, but we were originally interested in you because...we knew."

Sheik's voice was soft with fear. "What...did you know?"

The twins smiled at each other, then at him. And they said it, what they had known. They said it in unison, but quietly, so that no one but Sheik could hear.

"Don't...don't tell anyone..." Sheik said, his voice now barely more than a whisper.

"Oh, we won't Boss," Smith said, regaining his voice. "We're loyal to the end. Always and forever true to those we swear allegiance to."

"But- but you haven't sworn anything to me."

"Not yet," Smith agreed.

"But we will," Wesson added.

"Someday."

"We promise."

"We want to follow you."

"You're a good leader."

"Even if you are so girly."

Sheik flushed, and the twins laughed.

"Goodbye Boss," they called as they headed out the door. "Call us anytime."

Then they were gone.

Sheik returned to the common room, face carefully blank, and sat down beside Link..

"What did they want?" Link asked.

"To say goodbye," Sheik said calmly.

"Goodbye?" Link repeated. "They're gone?"

"Their sentence was three months. I guess I forgot just how short a time that is."

"So then...they're really gone?" Link couldn't stop himself from smiling.

Sheik laughed. "Yes Link, it's just you and me again."

"That's not what I-"

Sheik just laughed.


	9. Blame it on the Rain

_Damn _this is a long chapter! As such, don't expect a new one for _at least _a week. Probably more. Ah well, hope you like this one! (And I love those reviews!)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

9. Blame it on the Rain

"Thanks for coming," Link said. "I really appreciate this."

"It's no trouble," the girl called Bonanza replied, smiling. "So what's up?"

"Well, I don't know if he's told you this, but Sheik's sixteenth birthday is in a week."

"What!" Bonanza exclaimed. "It is? Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why didn't he tell me? Oh, what am I gonna _do?"_

"Relax Bonanza, I have a plan."

She looked up. "You do?"

"Uh-huh." Link removed a small bundle of fabric from his pocket. "Sheik outgrew this awhile ago, but he wouldn't stop wearing it until it got almost completely destroyed recently. I was wondering if, well, you could make him a new one?"

Bonanza took the fabric and unfolded it. "Hey, this is that rag he was always wearing. You were right about it being destroyed. What happened?"

"I think Sheik should be the one to tell you that. But the important thing is, can you do it?"

"Make a new one of these? Easily enough, but the pattern is pretty elaborate. Do I have to copy it _exactly_?"

"Yes!"

Bonanza blinked. "Okay, okay, sheesh. What's so important about it?"

"You're Sheik's friend, you oughta know."

Bonanza looked at him oddly. "You're his friend too you know."

"Sometimes I wonder," Link said softly.

"You are! He talks about you all the time!"

"He- he does?"

"Yeah, he does." Bonanza cocked her head. "Um, are you blushing?"

"What? No..." Link blushed even harder.

"Well, whatever. I'll see what I can do for Sheik's...vest-thingie, and be back on Thursday, 'kay?"

Link smiled. "Thanks Bonanza, you're the best."

"So I've been told," she smiled back.

zzz

Thursday, just as promised, Bonanza returned and delivered the completed vest.

"Why are your fingers all...multi-colored?" Link asked. "And covered in band-aids?"

Bonanza blew a strand of hair out of her face. "I said I did it, not that it was easy. You know, I thought of something though. Why didn't you just ask Sheik's mom or something? I mean, if it's a Sheikah thing wouldn't it make more sense to ask his family?"

"Mm, yeah, I thought of that. But I don't really know how to get in touch with his family. And the one time I met his sort-of mom she kinda...scared the living crap out of me."

Bonanza laughed.

"Look, I've gotta go, we're cleaning the highway again, but I'll tell Sheik what you did when I give him this later."

"All right, see you Link."

"Bye."

Link left smiling.

zzz

It started raining after they'd been outside only ten minutes, and still hadn't stopped two hours later when they got back.

Link rushed back to his room to grab Sheik's present, but before he could track his friend down a guard found him and told him he had a visitor.

"Link!" Saria exclaimed. "Why are you all wet?"

Link flicked his damp bangs out of his eyes and stared at her. "It's raining," he said simply.

"Well why were you out in the rain? And why haven't you dried off?"

Link looked down at himself. He shrugged.

"Well go do it! Do you want to catch pneumonia and die?"

"Um, no?"

"No! Of course not! Go take a warm shower and put on some dry clothes."

Link sighed. "Yes _Mom_."

"And don't roll your eyes at me young man!"

They grinned at each other.

When Link got back he and Saria sat down to really talk.

"So how are you really?" Saria asked. "I'm sorry I haven't been by more often, but, well, some stuff came up..."

Suddenly Link sat up and blinked. He had just remembered something. "Saria," he said seriously. "When's the last time you saw Mido?"

"Well, uh," Saria fiddled with her hands in her lap. "The thing is, um, a while ago we figured out that we, I mean all the Kokiri, can leave the forest with no ill effects. So Mido left to...I don't know, do stuff, and, well...we- we haven't seen him since."

Link clenched his fists for a moment, debating, then said, "I have."

"You have? Where is he?"

"Here."

Saria blinked. "Here as in, _here_?"

"Here as in, he was arrested and has like three years to go."

"Oh dear..."

"That's one way of putting it, yeah." Link looked at Saria's stricken face, and made the instant decision not to tellher what Mido had done to him. She was his sister, in many ways, and he didn't want to hurt her.

And that reminded him. It hadn't been long since he'd gotten it, so he still forgot about it sometimes, but if Saria noticed...

Casually, Link slid his left hand behind his back.

"What did he do?" Saria asked.

"I, uh, I'm not sure," Link lied.

"I don't believe you," Saria frowned.

"No, really! I don't know!" Link waved his hands in his effort to assay her.

One of his hands caught her eye. "What is that?"

"Uh..."

Saria grabbed the hand. "Link! Did you draw on yourself?"

"No," he said truthfully.

Saria peered closer at the picture on his hand. She licked one of her thumbs and wiped it across it.

"Saria! Ew!"

"Link," Saria fixed him with a glare reminiscent of Impa. "Is this a tattoo?"

"Erm..."

"You got a tattoo?"

"Well it would be silly to say no _now_."

"Link!"

"It's got nothing to do with you!" Link snapped. Then he saw the hurt look on her face and bit his lip. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just...I _like _this tattoo."

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry too, it's not my place to judge what you do. Not any more..."

"Um, Saria, you're my friend and all, but it was _never _your place."

"Yeah...you're right." Saria sighed. "I guess I've known for a while now that you and I aren't...the way we used to be."

"What do you mean?"

"You know I'll always be your friend, but I guess I can't be the type of friend I used to be."

"Saria..."

"You've grown up Link, and I never will."

"But you _are _grown up Saria. Just because you're no bigger than a ten-year-old, doesn't mean you aren't more grown up that I will ever be."

Saria smiled. "Maybe you're right. But...I think there is a reason the Kokiri don't normally leave the forest. Even more than that silly superstition. This...isn't our place. Our world. We belong in the forest, and nowhere else."

Link stared down at the floor. "And I don't belong there," he said softly.

"No, I guess not."

"I wish I did."

"I know."

They were both silent for a while.

"I love you Link," Saria said. "You are a good brother and a decent friend. Take care of yourself."

"Okay," Link said. "I love you too."

"I know." Saria got up, smiling. "Goodbye Link."

"Goodbye..."

zzz

Link, brain buzzing with thoughts, had trouble falling asleep that night. Sheik had been enormously happy with the new vest. So happy that he'd actually _hugged_ Link. He'd never done that before, and it bothered Link how much he kept thinking about it.

That, along with saying goodbye to Saria, kept sleep at bay for a long time. Even the lulling sounds of the rain on the roof didn't help.

And when he did finally fall asleep, his dreams were very odd.

He dreamt that he woke up, still in his bed, with the rain still drumming loudly above his head, and saw a girl.

She was about his own age. Blonde, curvy, a little bit shorter than average, but definitely beautiful. In fact, though he didn't know why he thought this, she was exactly Link's type. He hadn't even known he _had _a type until he saw this girl, but he knew she was. She was dressed in Sheikah clothes, very like the ones Link had seen Sheik wearing a time or two, but she didn't look like a Sheikah.

And, oddly enough, she was soaking wet. From head to foot, completely drenched. She looked cold.

And then his dreams shifted and the girl was gone.

zzz

Link woke up late the next morning. He was used to getting up early to spar with Sheik, but it was almost too late to do that now.

Quickly Link threw off his covers and dressed. Only then did he notice something odd.

Sheik was still in bed.

Link grinned. This was the first time he had _ever _woken up before Sheik, and he fully intended to take advantage of it.

"Sheik, you lazy dork." He walked toward the other boy's bed, still grinning. Sheik was curled up under his sheets, only half his face visible. His hair was a tangled mess on the pillow, and he was frowning slightly in his sleep. He looked...really cute actually. "Come on Sheik, wake up. We should practice."

Shiek frowned a little bit more, then moaned.

"Sheik?"

Suddenly Sheik started coughing. A harsh, hacking cough that sounded painful and wracked Sheik's body with spasms.

"Sheik!" Link knelt down beside the bed and took hold of the other boy's shoulders. He coughed a bit more, then flopped down in the bed.

Link released one of Sheik's shoulders and wiped some hair out of his face. Then he gasped and drew the hand back. "Sheik! You're burning up!"

Sheik moaned again, looking like he was in real pain.

"Oh, Sheik..." Link had to suppress the urge to call him "baby," and he didn't want to think about why.

zzz

"Well?" Link asked urgently.

"I can't be positive without a blood test," the nurse said. "But it sure looks like pneumonia to me,"

"Pneumonia?" Saria's words flashed through his mind. 'Do you want to catch pneumonia and die?' "So he could...die?"

"Unlikely," the nurse reassured him. "If it is pneumonia, and I'm not saying it is, all he needs is some antibiotics and rest. Although, since we need a blood test, he _will _have to go to the hospital for a while."

"But he'll be okay?"

"I'm sure he will."

"He had better be."

The nurse looked at him sternly. "You can go now."

Link scowled, but he left.

He decided to do something he did very rarely, to get his mind off Sheik. He flopped down on the couch in the TV room and prepared to veg out.

"Break-in at the royal palace!" the anchorwoman announced. Link's ears perked up. "Late last night a young woman in Sheikah dress was seen entering the palace through a back window." A still picture appeared on the screen. It was of exactly what they'd said, a young woman in Sheikah clothes climbing through a window. Even though the picture was grainy and made worse by the rain, Link could tell the woman was beautiful. Blonde and lithe, with dangerous curves.

She looked familiar.

"She left only a few moments later, before the authorities had time to arrive," the TV said. "Nothing seems to have been taken, and both the palace rep and the police are refusing to comment."

"Weird..." Link muttered.

zzz

The next day Link pestered the nurse until he finally just gave Link a copy of the blood test results. Sure enough, pneumonia. Sheik had been moved to the hospital, and would be staying for a couple of days.

"Normally we would notify his family," the nurse said, "but we don't know if he has any."

"Impa," Link said.

"What?"

"There's a woman named Impa, I think she's his aunt or something, she visited him just a couple of weeks ago."

"All right, I'll check the visitor records and call her. Thanks."

"No problem."

"Don't you have anywhere to be?"

Link knew the price of saying no, so he left. Outside the infirmary, Link sighed then wandered down the hallway, staring at the papers.

"Hey Link," a couple of younger boys approached him. "What happened to Sheik?"

"He's sick," Link answered simply. "They took him to the hospital."

"What's he got? Is it bad?"

"See for yourself," Link handed them the papers.

"Pewmonia?" one boy said.

"It's not _pew_monia," the other one rolled his eyes. "It's puh-newmonia."

"Uh, guys," Link tried to correct them but they weren't listening.

"Holy crap! Isn't that, like, bad?"

"Yeah! People can _die _of that!"

"Sheik's gonna die!"

"Oh no!"

Link sighed. "Sheik is not going to die."

The boys still weren't listening, but Link didn't have the energy to argue with them.

He spent the next few days trying and failing not to worry, and following the palace break-in story on the news and in the papers. One of the tabloids suggested that the young woman was the secret mistress of the king. Another thought she was the princess. Link thought they both were being ridiculous. The woman was much too young and acting far too sneaky to be the king's mistress, and the princess was a _princess_; she wouldn't be breaking in anywhere.

The nights were difficult. Without Sheik's soft breathing he found it difficult to fall asleep, and the fact that the reason the breathing was gone was because Sheik was in the hospital didn't help.

On the third night, after hours of lying awake, Link got up and climbed into Sheik's bed.

The sheets had been washed already and the pillow replaced since Sheik had contaminated them, but the mattress still had a dent in it from where Sheik's body had lain so many nights...

Link closed his eyes, and dreamed of Sheik.

zzz

"Link," a guard said.

"Yes?" Link looked up from the weeds he was pulling.

"You're wanted," the guard jerked his thumb back toward the main building. Link gulped, but followed him.

There was a police officer waiting for him in the entrance hall. "Your friend has been asking for you," he said. "His aunt insisted we bring you."

"Sheik?" Link said. "And...Impa?"

"That's right," the cop said. He held up a pair of handcuffs.

Link winced. "Do I have to?"

"Do you want to go?"

"Yeah..."

"Then yes, you have to. They told me you were an escape risk." This was true. After Link had ranted to Ruto for the umpteenth time about how much he hated being indoors so much, she'd had no choice but to report him. There were no hard feelings, Link didn't know what he'd do if he had the chance either.

"Can I at least be cuffed in front?" Link asked. Having his hands cuffed behind him had made him feel so vulnerable last time.

"Fine."

Link was cuffed, loaded in a suspiciously unsuspicious sedan just outside the building, and driven out of the complex.

For the first time in six years, Link was outside the complex and not even cleaning the highway. It was a very odd feeling.

Being in the hospital was even odder. He'd never been to a hospital before. In a way it was like juvie, with the gray hallways and lack of decoration. But in other ways it was very different. It smelled like lemons and antiseptic instead of cigarettes. It was full of people trying to help other people, or hoping to be helped, instead of young punks and grumpy guards. Though the doctors and other employees were dressed similarly, none of them were wearing orange jumpsuits. It was hard to believe Sheik was somewhere in this maze of overly clean hallways and constipated-looking doctors and nurses. Link never thought he'd miss the disgruntled male nurse back at the complex.

The cop gotdirections from the woman at the desk, Link didn't know if she was a nurse or what, and led Link up an elevator and down a hall.

Impa was standing outside the room, looking nearly as constipated as one of the doctors. "Wait here," she told the cop, "I'll take him in."

"But-"

"My nephew trusts him, so I'm willing to. Stay out here."

Not even the cop could stand up to Impa's blood-colored glare. He nodded and sat down in a chair near the door.

Impa grabbed Link's wrist and led him into the room. "Listen up," she hissed. "I don't know you, and I don't trust you."

"But you said-"

"I lied," she snapped. "The point is, Sheik likes you and he threatened to do something...foolish unless I let him see you. So here you are." She released Link's wrist and stepped back from him. "You have five minutes." She vanished into the hallway.

Link turned toward the bed. Sheik was lying on it, completely motionless, with a tube in his arm. Link ran a hand nervously through his hair, then stopped suddenly. He stared at the hand he'd just moved. He was uncuffed! Impa had uncuffed him!

Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

Link, nervous again, sat in the chair beside the bed. "Hey Sheik."

"Hey Link," Sheik opened his eyes and smiled weakly.

"You okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

They were both silent.

"Seriously now," Link said. "How are you?"

Sheik laughed, the shallow huffing laugh of someone who knew if he laughed too hard he would start coughing. "I'll be okay, really."

"I don't know anything about pneumonia..." Link began. "But...should you still be this sick?"

"No," Sheik admitted. "I fought them a lot at first. I refused to let them do anything to me until Impa got here."

"Why would you do a thing like that?"

"Uh..."

"Sheik?"

"I shouldn't have said that. I'm kind of high right now, what with the painkillers and all..."

"Sheik, you can tell me. You can tell me anything."

Sheik looked at Link, and his eyes were rather unfocused. "I've been lying to you Link," he said softly. "About my name, about my life, about...everything."

"It's okay Sheik, I don't care."

"But you will care...once I tell you..." His voice was so soft Link could barely hear him. "You'll... hate me..."

"No Sheik!" Link grabbed Sheik's hand. "No! I could _never_ hate you! I lo-" He stopped abruptly. Sheik was asleep or unconscious, and Link had just realized what he had been about to say.

He released Sheik's hand and stood up. He removed all expression from his face with conscious effort, then turned and went to the door.

He opened it just a bit and looked out. "He's asleep, Miss Impa," he said flatly.

"Very well." Impa stepped into the room and snapped Link's cuffs back on, then led him back into the hallway.

Link was quiet all the way back to the complex, and even after he got back. A couple of people tried to stop him, ask him where he'd been and what had happened, but he didn't even look at them.

He walked straight to his room, flopped on his bed, and pulled out his journal.

He stared at a blank page for several moments, hardly able to believe what he was going to write. But it was true, he finally realized it was true.

_I love him_, he wrote.

He loved him. Link was in love with Sheik. It was not friendly, or even brotherly love, it was "I want you, I need you, please baby, please" love.

Except he didn't feel that way about Sheik. Link wasn't gay, and he wasn't just denying it because he was scared. He was genuinely not attracted to guys. Even in his erotic dreams about Sheik (and now that he thought about it there had been quite a few) the other boy had always sprouted breasts, at the very least.

And yet he loved him. It didn't make any sense. _Goddammit_! Link scrawled. _Why couldn't I at least be gay? At least then this would be okay, or at least make a hell of a lot more sense._

"Goddammit!" Link realized with a jolt that he had said that last one out loud, instead of writing it.

He dug his knuckles into his eyes. It hurt. The knuckles, the thing with Sheik, it all hurt. But he couldn't do anything about it. How could he tell Sheik that he meant more to him than anyone else ever had, and still expect him to believe that he wasn't interested in his body? It was far too much to ask.

_I want to spend my life with him_, Link wrote. _I want to be by his side forever and always and never have to worry about solitary or Mido or twins getting in the way. I just want **him**._

Link closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then bit his lip and started writing furiously. _It can't be though. It's too messed up to ever happen. Sheik likes girls, I like girls, but I love him. If we were to live together, after we get out of here, how long could I keep it up? Pretending I didn't have these feelings. I've had them for a long time, I realize that now, and I'm pretty surprised I didn't notice before now. God! I've been like a lovesick puppy around him! Has anyone else noticed? Could they have? I hope Mido hasn't_...

_Huh, I wonder what Mido would do if I was really gay? Nothing good of course, but I have to admit his initial reaction would be priceless._ He grinned, though there was no humor behind it.

_I wish I was dead_.

zzz

"Sheik's out of the picture," Mido said as he paced before his ragtag group of followers. "That means Link's vulnerable, in more ways than one. Now is the time to strike!"

"So what do we do Boss?" a toadie asked.

Mido grinned. "Listen well my children, for this will make or break us..."

zzz

With nothing better to do, Link kept following the story of the break-in at the palace. For one thing, he needed something to distract him from thoughts that were bordering on suicidal. For another, the girl who'd done it was a total babe.

The media was finally dying down about it. Link didn't know what the palace had said, but it seemed to have done the trick. Without the story though, Link didn't know what else to do.

It was only two days after Link had seen Sheik in the hospital, and he was feeling more lost than ever. Now that he understood the truth about his feelings, he was afraid to be around Sheik, but he still wanted to be near him.

Plus, though he didn't want to admit it, he was feeling rather self-destructive. He wanted to see Sheik because he knew it might ruin everything, and a part of him wanted it ruined. The same part of him that clenched his fists until his fingernails dug into his palms deep enough to draw blood.

Link had his first meeting with Ruto since Sheik had gotten sick that day. Her first question?

"You okay?"

"Fine," Link said.

"That's a guy 'fine,'" Ruto said accusingly. "You say it when you're not fine but don't want to talk about it."

"If you already knew, why did you ask me?"

"No need to be grumpy," she snorted.

"No? My best friend is near death." Saying the words only increased the pain. He knew he would never be able to tell Ruto what else was wrong.

"Sheik!" she exclaimed. "What happened to him!"

Link blinked. He hadn't realized Ruto knew him well enough to automatically know he was talking about Sheik when he said "best friend." "He, well, he caught pneumonia."

"Pneumonia? What's that?"

Link should have realized a Zora wouldn't know anything about a disease often caught by standing out in the rain. "It's a pretty bad disease, people used to die from it. I think you get it from being wet and cold and not warming up."

"Well how did Sheik get wet and cold?"

"It was raining when we were cleaning the highway."

"You were there too?"

"Yeah."

"But you're not sick."

"I dried off."

"Anyone else sick?"

"No..."

"So...everyone but Sheik dried off?"

"I- I guess so..."

Ruto blinked all four of her eyes, slowly. "Didn't you tell me Sheik is smart?"

"He is! He is... Normally... This time I guess he just...wasn't."

"Uh-huh," Ruto had slipped into sarcasm mode. "You sure he's not suicidal?"

"No, that's me."

Ruto stared at him.

Link clapped his hand over his mouth.

"I- I have to go." Link got up and rushed out.

"Link! No!" Ruto called after him. But he was already gone. "No..."

Link, running down the hall, almost tripped over someone smaller than him. "Sorry," he muttered, then tried to move on.

But the small person had grabbed his shirt in a surprisingly strong grip, and wasn't letting go. "I don't think so," a familiar voice said.

"Oh hell."

zzz

"Here's the deal," Mido grinned as he paced before him. "You and me are going to have it out, and whoever loses, a.k.a. _you_, takes the blame for whatever we trash."

"That's the worst plan you've ever had," Link glared at him.

"Well we're doing it."

"Ever."

"You don't really have a choice."

"Ever in the history of ever."

"Shut up!"

"I'm _not _doing it."

"What if I just punch you in the head and we go from there?"

"I don't believe this is your whole plan."

Mido blinked. "Uh, wh- what do you mean?"

"Us beating on each other? That cannot be your whole plan. For one thing, why am I tied to this chair?"

Link was, in fact, tied to a chair. Mido had threatened to scream and pretend Link was hurting him if he didn't come quietly, and somehow that had led to Link not complaining when Mido and his cronies tied him up.

It was that self-destructiveness again.

He didn't even _want_ to know where they'd gotten the rope.

"Hey Boss?" one of the toadies said. "Uh, you remember when you told me to watch for guards?"

Mido sighed. "Is a guard coming?"

"No..."

"Are _several _guards coming?"

"Kinda..."

"All right, everyone scatter."

"But what about..." the kid jerked his thumb toward Link, who was struggling furiously against his bindings.

"Leave him. Doesn't matter."

The boys ran, leaving Link in the chair.

"I hate that guy so much..." Link muttered. Then he resumed his struggling. Several seconds of grunting and wiggling only resulted in the chair tipping over. "Oh yeah, I really hate that guy."

zzz

No one found Link. The kid had been wrong about guards coming, or they'd been going somewhere else. Either way, he had to struggle and writhe until his wrists were scraped up and his shoulders sore, but at least he was free.

It was only twenty minutes till lights out, and Link didn't feel like eating. He hadn't felt like eating for a while. He just went back to his room, lay down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling.

Mido wasn't going to just give up, not after this. Link couldn't help but wonder what his real plan was, but couldn't worry about that now.

Now he had to worry about Sheik.

zzz

"Okay," Mido grumbled. "That didn't work. But we can just go back to my original plan instead of that weird improv one."

"But Boss, I thought you wanted to pound that guy."

"I will, I will, but we need to go back to Plan A."

"We lettered the plans?"

"There is only one plan!" Mido exclaimed. He sighed. He had forgotten how stupid children could be. Just because they looked like his peers, didn't mean they were even close. "Look, do you remember what you're supposed to do?"

"Yeah," they chorused.

"Then we start tomorrow."

zzz

Link wandered down the hall to breakfast, still moping. He almost passed by the small boy crying softly against one wall. But Link was a good guy, he couldn't just ignore a crying kid.

"Hey," he leaned down and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You okay?"

The boy looked up at him. He didn't look like he'd been crying.

"Leave me alone!" the boy screamed.

"Hey!" Link tried to step back, but the boy had grabbed the hand he'd put on his shoulder and was holding on tight.

"Help! _Help_!" the boy sounded terrified.

Some cut-off part of Link noted that the boy was a pretty good actor.

By now the boy's screams had attracted gawkers and guards, and Link was in trouble...

He ran for it.

zzz

Later, just before lunch, Link almost tripped over another small boy who had darted out in front of him. The boy threw himself to the ground and yelled, "Hey!"

"What?" Link asked.

"You shoved me!"

"No I-"

"You jerk!"

"What? But-"

"Waaaaahh!"

Link was starting to recognize this boy, but the guards were coming again. Link ran.

zzz

Late that afternoon, it happened again. The same little boy ran up, grabbed his hand, put it on his head, and started flailing wildly as though Link was pulling his hair. It was a good bit of acting, and the boy had a surprisingly strong grip.

Link couldn't escape this time...

zzz

Naturally, the guards didn't believe Link when he said the boy had just started screaming for no reason. It wasn't at all unusual for the older boys to pick on the younger ones, but it was very unusual for one of them to actually _care _about anyone else. It wasn't good for a person's reputation, for one thing. And, of course, there were the times when hehadn't even been crying.

Link stuck to his story for as long as he felt like it, then just said "uh-huh" to all their questions until they confined him to his room for a few days.

On his way to his room, he ran into Mido.

"Well?" Mido asked.

"Well what?" Link muttered. "You wanna throw down? Because I'm in the mood for that."

"Nah," Mido grinned. "I just want to know what they did to you."

"Nothin.'"

"Nothing?"

"Nothin' important. I'm grounded."

"Grounded!"

"You gonna repeated everything I say?"

"So you're confined to your room!"

"Yup." Link noticed the stricken look on Mido's face. He bent down and grinned at him. "You gonna miss me?"

"What? No! But how am I supposed to mess with you if you're locked in your room!"

Link laughed. "That's your problem. I think I'm actually going to enjoy this."

Mido growled.

zzz

"Plan backfired," Mido told his toadies. "You," he pointed at the "good actor." "You're dead to me."

"Aw, but-"

"Dead!"

The boy left reluctantly, muttering under his breath.

"So now what?"

"As soon as he gets out I'm gonna... We're gonna... I don't know!" He growled and started pacing again. "That bastard...thinks he's so cool..." There was a mad light in Mido's eyes as he gritted his teeth and paced wildly.

His toadies started backing up.

"All the time he was there...everyone's attention... Even in _juvie _he's the most popular guy around!" Mido punched his palm. "I'll show him. I will! I'll prove I'm better than...Stop creeping backwards before I break all your legs!"

The toadies stopped creeping, but they couldn't help but exchange frightened glances.

Mido had gone over the edge.

zzz

Link lay on his back on Sheik's bed, staring at the ceiling. He never thought he would miss something like Sheik's scent, but suddenly all he wanted was to be able to smell his hair.

Maybe he was just being stupid, maybe he should just try to forget about Sheik. But how could he forget about him when they slept in the same room? And he didn't _want _to forget about him. He _liked _loving Sheik. Whenever they were together he felt...better, more complete than when they were apart. It felt _good_.

But it wouldn't work. He could never be with Sheik the way he really wanted to be, not only because Sheik didn't have the proper anatomical parts.

Link sighed again. Maybe things really would be better if he were dead. At least he wouldn't have to worry about anything. Ever again.

_What would everyone think if I died_? Link wondered. _Mido'd probably throw a party, tell everyone back home, and make Sheik miserable for mourning me._

_Sheik_...

Link sat up. _If I died, Sheik would be sad. Just like how I would be sad if he died. Just like how I **am**_ _sad because he might be dying_... _Okay, suicide is bad. I'm going to live, if only because I don't want to hurt the one I love_.

_The one I love_...

Link gritted his teeth and punched Sheik's pillow.

"Hey! What did my bed ever do to you?"

Link turned slowly, sure he was hearing things.

Sheik stood, grinning, in the doorway. He looked a little tired, but otherwise fine.

He was the most beautiful thing Link had ever seen in his life.

"Sheik!" Link leapt up and threw himself at the other boy, practically knocking them both to the ground. "I missed you so much man! You have _no _idea what I went through while you were gone! First Mido tied me to a chair and then-"

"Link," Sheik grinned sheepishly and tried to pry him off a little. "Let's talk in our room, okay?"

"Oh, uh, right." Link released him reluctantly and Sheik came in, shutting the door behind him.

"So what's this about Mido?" Sheik asked, sitting on his bed.

Link sat across from him and started telling him the story, but he didn't get far before Sheik interrupted him.

"You visited me at the hospital?"

Link blinked. "You don't remember?"

Sheik looked up, thoughtful. "I think I remember you being there, but I was pretty heavily medicated most of the time. It's all a blur."

"So...you don't remember what you said?" Link's heart sank.

"Not really," Sheik shrugged. "It was like it was all a dream, you know? Like it was very far away..." He fiddled with his fingers awkwardly, then asked, "Did I say anything... weird?"

"Well, not weird exactly. You said you'd lied to me about everything and that I was going to hate you."

Sheik laughed. "You call _that _not weird? I've got _no idea _where that came from."

"So you aren't lying to me?"

"Nah, not really. Not about anything important anyway." He grinned. "You've already guessed that my name isn't really Sheik, haven't you?"

"Well, it _is _kind of an obvious pseudonym..."

"It was the best I could do at the time. I was ten years old!"

Link smiled fondly. It was so good to have Sheik back...

Sheik was smiling at him too.

For awhile they smiled at each other, and they may have stayed like that, smiling like idiots, for hours if the call for lights out hadn't come.

They had to change in the dark, for which Link was grateful, but as soon as they were in bed, Sheik whispered, "So what else did Mido do to you?"

Link told him, and Sheik didn't even drift off halfway through it. It wasn't until the story was long over that Sheik's breathing slowed and Link could be certain he was asleep.

Then he rolled out of bed and crossed the tiny room. He kneeled beside Sheik's bed and looked at as much of his face as he could in the dark.

"You awake?" he whispered.

Sheik didn't even twitch.

Link leaned down until he could feel Sheik's breath. He closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply. The scent of Sheik's hair...

"I love you Sheik," Link whispered. "I couldn't go on without telling you. I love you..."

Sheik's breathing didn't change.

Link wanted to kiss Sheik more than anything, but he didn't. He couldn't risk waking him up. He had told Sheik how he felt, and that was enough for now.

It would have to be.


	10. Author Note

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

I'm dying. I seriously think I'm dying of happiness.

What the hell am I talking about? The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess of course! It looks _so_ cool and the new Link is _so_ hot, that I just couldn't resist breaking into the story to rant about it. Sorry.

To make up for it, I'll also be answering some questions and clearing up a few misconceptions. Please bear with me.

Rantage:

Link in TP has a Triforce tattoo! On his left hand! I'm psychic!

Is is just me, or is Link _seriously friggin' hot_! I know it's weird to be attracted to a game character, but come on, I'm talking to a bunch of fanfiction readers here. You guys _know_ he's hot.

Zelda is hot too! For the record, I'm bi, so I get to enjoy the good-graphicy-goodness of both kinds of eye candy to their full extent. Go me! ahem Anyway, have you seen the screen shots? Zelda's looking pretty fine!

Ganon's back! Or so they say. Ganon, despite being a pig, and ugly as sin, is a pretty cool bad guy. Plus, he's king of the Gerudos. And we all know my opinion on Gerudos. ahemwhorescough Ganon's a pimp.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! So pretty! Pretty pretty pretty! Love new graphics!

Wolves are cool. Werewolves are cooler. Now, Link isn't _exactly_ a werewolf, but gets forced into wolf form when he enters the twilight realm. Tell me that's not cool!

I _need_ to write a fanfiction about this. I'll probably get the first chapter online like an hour after I finish the game ( I suck at games so that won't be until, like, January). Link's sixteen in this, so I'll probably make it one of my "Blank, Blank, and Why I Hate Hormones" stories. Damn, I've got to learn about wolves.

Frequently Asked Questions (or just questions I feel like answering):

Q. Is Sheik Zelda?

A. I'm not telling (what, haven't you guessed yet? Have you even played Ocarina of Time?)

Q. Is Sheik gay?

A. See above.

Q. What's a shiv?

A. A shiv is a makeshift knife, basically anything you can sharpen. In prison they make them out of spoons usually, because they don't have bedposts. Juvie is not as strict about that kind of ting.

Q. This isn't gonna be some kind of LinkxSheik thing is it?

A. Wow, this is like…so totally moot right now. See the first answer anyway.

Q. Will you read a story I wrote?

A. I haven't been reading much fanfiction lately. I don't have a lot of time, and I'm afraid it will corrupt my own. What if someone else had a similar idea to mine, and did it better? My head might explode.

Q. Will you join my C2 community?

A. I don't have a damn clue how those things work.

Q. You wrote, "Sheik had been in juvie only a week longer than Link." So does that mean that Sheik will get out a week earlier than Link so Link will be by himself in juvie for a week?

A. Not necessarily. Release dates can change based on behavior, and who said that Link would be in there _exactly_ eight years? Could be a little more, could be a little less.

Q. How long is this story planned out to be?

A. I've got at least three more chapters planned, but the next one is being mean to me and could very well become two.

Q. Random question about Smith and Wesson

A. The twins are a year or two younger than Sheik. No they are not girls. And I'm still not sure if we'll see them again. If so, not for long. Just, like, a cameo (don't ask).

Q. Random comment on my grammar

A. I _do_ reread these things! Sometimes three or four times! I'm a grammar-Nazi so it really bugs me when I have typos, but even _I_ can't catch everything!

Final note: I'm sorry about this! Please forgive me! Um…I love you?


	11. End of an Era

11. End of an Era

A year passed. Link adjusted to his newfound knowledge, and managed to keep it secret from everyone. It wasn't like he hadn't felt the same way before, he just had a name for the emotion now.

His near-suicidal-depression was gone, it had been a temporary thing. With Sheik back and healthy and all his, it was hard to be depressed about anything.

But something odd _was _happening. Quiet. Quiet had invaded the facility.

Even Ruto had noticed, Link wasn't her only peer after all, that all the boys seemed...subdued. Almost...scared.

But what did they have to be scared of? Nothing had changed that Link had seen. Except for the quiet of course.

"What the hell is going on?" Link asked Sheik one day. "I haven't even had to beat anyone up in months!"

Sheik shrugged. "Any new kids?"

"No scary ones. Unless you count Tagger."

"Tagger's back?"

"Some kid's tattoo got infected. He ran and told his mommy."

"That's the kid's fault."

"Judge didn't see it that way."

"Poor Tagger."

"Poor Tagger."

Sheik flipped idly through his magazine. "Is he acting weird?"

"Who, Tagger?"

"Yeah."

"Not really. He doesn't want to try tattooing in here again, but he seems normal. It's only been a couple of days though, we'll have to see."

Sheik sighed. "I wish we could just _ask _someone what's up."

"And what are we supposed to say? 'Hey kid, how come you haven't chucked anything at anyone lately?'"

Sheik laughed. "I dare you to do that!"

Link was tempted, he'd do weirder to make Sheik laugh, but thought better of it. "Make me!" he said instead.

"I can."

Link snorted.

"No, really, I can." Sheik threw the magazine aside and tossed his legs over the side of the bed. He leaned down toward Link, who was on the floor, and smiled. "I know things about you Link... I know which buttons to press, and which stories to tell."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Link asked, though he was afraid he knew.

"Link..." Sheik smiled softly and fluttered his eyelashes. "Come on... Ask someone for me?"

"I- I- Uh- I-" Link's heart was pounding in his throat.

"If you don't... I'll tell everyone about what you say in your sleep."

Link blinked and gulped hard. "I...talk in my sleep?"

"From time to time." Sheik was smiling smugly now. "You say the _oddest _things."

"Sheik, there is no way you are going to tell anyone about anything I might have said."

"Oh no? What makes you think that?"

"Well, I'm bigger than you. I can beat you up."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try!"

Without a word, Link tackled him.

They rolled around on Sheik's bed until they fell off, then rolled around on the floor. Sheik was laughing his head off and Link was making little "grr" noises to amuse him. Then Link's arm pressed against something odd.

Something squishy.

Sheik squeaked, shoved Link off of him, and scrambled away, muttering something under his breath.

"Sheik?" Link pulled his hat back in place and stared at his friend. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, uh, nothing. Just...nothing."

"Did I hurt you?"

"Well, kinda."

"Where? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, really. It was just...a tender area." Sheik had his back to Link, but his arms were across his chest.

"Your chest?"

"I'm _fine_, okay?" Sheik snapped.

"All right, all right, sheesh."

Silence.

"What happened then?"

"Well...a spell kinda...tweaked out on me"

"A spell?"

"To be honest I'm surprised the spell hasn't done anything like this before. It's been going for _years_."

"What was it?"

"Uh...nothing important."

"Sheik?"

"Nothing you need to know about."

"Right..."

Another silence.

Link stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm gonna go, uh, ask some kid why he hasn't chucked anything at anyone lately."

Sheik laughed helplessly.

zzz

Link did it. He walked up to a random kid, and asked him why he was being so creepily well-behaved.

"I just don't want to cause any trouble," the kid said.

"Why not?" Link blinked.

The kid looked around. "I just...don't."

"Why the shifty eyes?"

"Sh- shifty eyes?" Now the kid's eyes widened. "I wasn't-"

"You know a kid named Mido?" Link asked.

"What! No, no, no way, no. No." The kid got up and ran away.

Link cracked his knuckles.

zzz

Link returned to the room a little while later. Sheik was flipping through the magazine again. He looked up when Link came in.

"Well?"

"Mido."

"Wha?"

"Mido's involved in this, I'm sure of it!"

Sheik rolled his eyes. "Not again."

"Yes again! It's _always _Mido!"

Sheik raised one eyebrow.

"It's _usually _Mido."

Sheik narrowed his eyes.

"It was Mido a couple of times."

Sheik blinked slowly.

"So, uh, what are you reading?"

"Well, um," Sheik glanced at the magazine, then flipped it closed. "Don't you have peer counciling?"

"Oh crap, you're right!" Link started to run for the door, then paused. "Hey, you wanna come?"

Sheik blinked. "Come?"

"I've never properly introduced you to Ruto. Come on, it'll be fun."

Sheik shrugged. "Okay, whatever." He got up and they left.

Ruto stood up politely when they came in.

"Hey Ruto," Link said. "This is Sheik. Sheik, Ruto."

"Hello Sheik," Ruto smiled.

"So it's true," Sheik said.

"Huh?"

"When Link first told me your name I thought it had to be a coincidence. No way _that _Ruto would be working in a juvenile detention center. And yet, here you are. How odd."

Ruto's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, you thought someone wouldn't guess? There aren't many of your type of Zora, you're just the right age, your name is _Ruto_. It's hard _not _to know."

"Well I know a few things about you too."

"How could you possibly know anything about me?"

"Link's told me more than even he realizes. And I've talked to others who know you. They don't get it, but I do. You're not very good at hiding it you know."

Sheik all but growled. "Bitch."

"Fag."

Sheik reared back and Link, recognizing the signs, neatly hooked his friend under the arms and linked his hands behind his head.

"Ow!" Sheik exclaimed. "Leggo!"

"No," Link said calmly. "It'll only take you a couple seconds to realize why I'm doing this."

"What? But-" His eyes widened. "Oh... Oops."

"You good?"

"Yeah. Sorry man."

Link released him. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Sheik brushed off his arm. "Hmph."

"Sheik."

"She called me a- a- You heard what she called me!"

"You're right." Link looked at Ruto. "Ruto, you're a bitch."

"What?" she exclaimed.

Link turned back to Sheik. "Sheik, you're an asshole."

"Hey!"

"Now that that's settled, I want you, out," he jerked his thumb toward Sheik.

"But Link..."

"I'm supposed to talk to Ruto, remember?"

"Oh yeah... Sorry."

"It's okay." He squeezed Sheik's shoulder. "You're still my favorite."

Sheik smiled warmly up at him, glared at Ruto, and left.

"So," Link sat down across from the Zora girl. "Who are you?"

"Wh- what do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"Sheik obviously knew something about you that I don't, otherwise you wouldn't have bluffed him like that."

"It wasn't a bluff!" Ruto defended herself. "I really think he's gay!"

"Sheik is _not_ gay. He's the one who- uh. Never mind. Just trust me, he's not."

"If you say so," she sighed.

"I do say so."

"_Fine_."

"So who are you?'

Ruto squirmed nervously.

"Ruto..."

She sighed again. "Look, it's not that big a deal. I just wanted you to judge me on me, not my family."

"Huh?"

"It's like this, see...if there was still a Zoran monarchy...I would be a princess."

"Crap! Really? So that's why you ran away from home?"

"Among other things, yeah... And my family's still really involved in politics and charities and stuff."

"Charities?" Link repeated. "Is...that what this is?"

"Well...yeah. At first. It looks really good for someone like me to help..."

"Someone like me?" Link suggested bitterly.

"Yeah..."

"Sheik was right, you are a bitch."

"I'm sorry. You know _I_ don't think you're lower than me. But you're in here and I'm...well...not."

"Yeah, well, I won't be here forever," he muttered. "And I'm not lower than you."

"I really am sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's all right, you're not the only one keeping stuff from me." He grinned wryly. "I kind of doubt Sheik's a princess though."

zzz

Sheik, meanwhile, had retreated to the TV room. The tabloids were providing some amusement while he sulked, but his thoughts kept drifting away. _Does Link think I'm gay_? he wondered. _If that princess-wannabe has been planting ideas in his head, maybe I **should** have hit her. Bitch_.

"...don't forget it."

"I- I won't. I swear!"

"Shut up!"

"Uhn!"

Sheik's ears perked up.

"Just remember, stay low and you won't get hurt."

"S-sorry sir."

"I'm not sir, Mido's sir. Remember that too."

Sheik's eyes widened.

"I will. I'm sorry."

"Good. Now get lost."

Sheik casually glanced over his shoulder and fixed the boy's face in his mind. This was big.

But before he could do anything about it, Tagger showed up and plopped down beside him.

"'Tsup man?"

"Hi Tagger."

"You look like you've lost weight. About a hundred and thirty pounds of it."

"Link's at peer counciling. And he weighs a hundred and thirty-five pounds, thank you very much."

"He does?"

"Yup."

"Why do you know how much Link weighs?"

Sheik shrugged.

"Well how much do you weigh?"

"'Bout a hundred-forty."

"More than Link? But you look smaller."

"I am, I just have some body fat. Unlike our friend Mr. Sinew."

"Right..." Tagger leaned back on the couch. "So what's been going on in here?"

"I almost died."

"What! Really!"

"No."

Tagger laughed. "You're still a dork Sheik."

"And you're still a freak."

"It's nice to know some things don't change."

Sheik stared blankly at the TV. "Yeah..."

zzz

Link got back to their room late in the afternoon. As soon as he walked through the door Sheik flipped his magazine closed and sat up.

"Link, there's something I've got to-"

"It's all right," Link interrupted. "I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Ruto told me."

"Oh, right, Ruto. But Link-"

"You were right you know. She is a bitch."

"I'm always right. Wait, what?"

"She thinks of me as a charity case, or at least she did at first." Link tossed his hat on the bedpost, flopped down on his bed and sighed. "When I found out she'd run away from home I thought she was a kindred spirit, you know? But she was a spoiled little rich girl runaway, not like me at all."

"Just because she's rich and semi-famous doesn't mean she's nothing like you." Sheik leaned toward him. "People from all walks of life can be like you. Just look at me."

Link did. "What about you?"

"Am I nothing like you?"

Link laughed. "You're my best friend."

"Exactly. But my childhood couldn't have been more different."

"I think most people had childhoods unlike mine. I was raised by forest children."

"You understand then."

Link smiled. "You're so smart Sheik."

Sheik smiled back. "It's nothing but common sense. You've got it too, you just need to listen to it."

"Yeah...you're right..." Link stared back up at the ceiling. "Maybe it's not Mido that's behind all this weirdness. Maybe all of it is just my imagination."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sheik leapt up and leaned over Link. "You're not crazy, you're right!"

"I'm what?" Link blinked.

"About Mido!"

"Mido?" Link sat up excitedly. Sheik didn't move back, and their faces were very close together. Link forgot what he'd been going to say. Luckily, Sheik didn't notice.

"Uh-huh," he said, smiling warmly. "Mido's behind this."

"But- but how?"

"How'd I find out?"

Sheik's breath smelled like gum. "Uh, sure."

"I overheard one of his flunkies shaking down some poor kid. I think your old friend has officially snapped."

"He's not my friend," Link _hmph_ed.

"Either way, he's gone nuts. He's forcing everybody to, I don't know, keep it down or something."

"That's weird."

"Very."

"So what do we do?"

"Do?"

"We have to do something!"

"But what?"

Link shrugged. "Just...stop him I guess."

"Just the two of us? He's got flunkies!"

"Well _I_ have fans." Link swung his legs over the bed and stood up. "I've saved enough kids from bullies over the years that everyone knows about me. I'm sure I can convince some people to help."

"Even if Mido's got everyone scared into submission?"

"People resent those they fear, if we can convince them we can take him down, they'll be more than willing to help."

Sheik grinned. "Now who's the smart one?"

Link smiled back. He was getting that urge again. The same one he'd been fighting for more than a year. To wrap his arms around Sheik and kiss him. It never got any easier though. It was so hard not to be honest with him.

Link wondered if this was how Sheik felt all the time, having to keep so much from everyone. Link didn't even know his parent's names. Or if he had parents.

"So what's step one?" Sheik asked.

The call for lights off echoed down the hall.

"Step one is get some sleep," Link grinned. "Operation, Take Down the Bastard begins tomorrow."

That night, Sheik dreamed of trees.

zzz

One week later, Mido noticed something...amiss. For one thing, his miniature army had become much more miniature. Almost half of his followers were MIA, and he couldn't figure out where they'd gone. Or why.

Not only that, but the kids he'd once had cowed were now completely ignoring him. And once again, he didn't know why.

His paranoid mind however had come up with several possibilities, many of which involved Link. So he kept his eyes on him and kept his head low. No sense providing a target.

He couldn't stay low for much longer though. His plan needed to go into effect.

Sometimes Mido forgot what his plan was.

Sometimes when he closed his eyes he could feel the walls closing in, crushing.

Sometimes he forgot how to breathe, and sometimes he didn't even try to remember.

Why bother, when he couldn't even remember the smell of grass?

zzz

"How many we got?" Link asked.

Sheik made a last check in his notebook. "Twenty-three."

"That enough?"

"Should be." Sheik tapped the pen on his pad for a moment. "Link, I've been thinking."

"You're always thinking," Link sighed. "But what is it this time?"

"Well, you know how you miss the forest?"

"Yeah..." Link growled. He didn't like to be reminded of it.

"Well, the Kokiri are _part _of the forest, aren't they?"

"Kinda. What's your point?"

"Think about it."

Link rolled his eyes. "Sheik, you-"

A head popped into the room. "Alert Chief," the boy said. "The nut job's on the move."

"Head out then," Link gestured to the rest of the boys. "Remember what we're doing here, being witnesses, we just want to prove the guy's as nuts as we know he is."

"Right," the boys, many of whom were Mido's old followers, chorused.

"Link, I'm not sure-"

"Then let's go!"

They went.

For the last week Link and Sheik had been watching Mido and his followers, and leading astray all the ones that looked like they could be led. The former toadies were all willing to reveal all they knew, which wasn't much. Mainly they just said the guy was a psycho.

But in the process of watching Mido, Sheik had started to have doubts. Not about Mido's lack of sanity, in fact the exact opposite. Sheik was starting to think something was _really _wrong with him.

And he thought he knew what it was.

But no one was listening to him.

Mido's plan, according to two-thirds of his former followers, was to kidnap a kid, beat the crap out of him, and frame Link for it. None of them were really sure why Mido hated Link so much, but a couple of them thought they'd heard him say something about it all being Link's fault. Link had no idea what that meant, but Sheik thought he did.

But no one was listening to him.

He never thought he'd miss his old life, but being taken seriously was something he'd like to get back.

zzz

Mido grabbed the most vulnerable kid he could find, a skinny little twig who was standing uncomfortably in a corner, wringing his hands. Mido smiled at him and offered to help him out. The boy gave him a grateful smile and followed him. Mido led the boy to a secluded area, beat the living crap out of him, and dragged him to Link's room.

He never recognized the boy, apparently he had meant it when he'd said he was "dead to him," and he never noticed any of the other boys following him.

Mido banged on Link's door, knowing that he was alone since Sheik had just been seen in the TV room.

When Link opened the door, Mido tossed the seemingly-unconscious boy at him, and followed the projectile into the room.

"What the hell!" Link exclaimed.

"What indeed?" Mido asked. "Why would you do something like that to that poor kid?"

"Me? I would never-"

"Odd, because I could have sworn I saw you drag this kid in here, and now I see him pounded into meat."

Link shook his head. "It's not gonna work Mido."

"I beg to differ."

"No, he's right," Sheik stepped into the room. "It isn't going to work."

"You!" Mido exclaimed.

"Me," Sheik agreed. He nodded to the boy on the floor, who got up, saluted ironically, and left.

"It's over Mido," Link said, grinning. "We've got more than enough witnesses to your madness, you're not going to get away with any of this ever again."

"Why?" Sheik said softly. "Why do this? All of this?"

"Why?" Mido repeated. "You think I even _know_!"

Link blinked.

"I'm just trying to make it _through _this! This is hell on earth and I don't know what the _hell _I'm doing!" That mad light was back in Mido's eyes, and he was speaking almost too fast to understand.

"You!" he whirled on Link. "This is all _your _fault! _You _left first! _You're _why Saria left! _You're _why we found out we _could _leave! So I left too, just to see what the world was like, have a good time. But it wasn't a good time, it was hell! No one saw me, listened to me, respected me! And then that man... That man..." He pulled at his own hair, eyes wide like a scared animal's.

His voice was now harsh, but still much too fast. "I didn't plan on hurting anyone, but that man... He took... And before I knew it his house was on fire, and I didn't care if anyone knew I'd done it. But they thought I was a kid, and I wound up here, and I tried to act like it was cool, like I could handle it, but I didn't know what the _hell _I was doing, all alone, I just bluffed and postured my way along, like I've always done, but you!" Once again he faced Link, glaring. "You actually _like _it here! You have _friends_! You're among your own _people_! You're not suffocating _every day_!"

Mido buried his face in his hands and sunk to the floor.

"I...I haven't seen a tree in months... Can't...I can't..."

Sheik looked at Link over Mido's shaking form. "Maybe there's a reason Kokiri don't leave the forest," he said calmly. "Maybe it really does kill them."

Link was obviously scared. "But Saria..."

"She never left the forest for more than a day, did she Mido?"

"Hours..." Mido muttered. "Three, four hours tops."

"You see?" Sheik bent down and helped Mido to his feet, putting the smaller boy's arm around his shoulders. "We're going to the infirmary," he said in a soothing voice. "They'll probably want to do blood tests, and you'll have to see a psychologist, but I think we can get you home."

"Home..." Mido said. His head was hanging now, he looked defeated. "I can't even remember what it looks like..."

Link came over and ducked under Mido's other arm. "It's green," he said. "Very green. There's a veritable wall of trees around the village, grass everywhere, and it always smells like dirt and fresh water."

"Fresh water..." Mido murmured. "Not this rusty stuff."

"Right," Link smiled.

They started walking forward, but just before they reached the door, Link paused. "Mido," he said slowly. "What happened to your fairy?"

"...That...that man..."

zzz

It took two weeks and the testimonyof all twenty-three of Link's fansto get Mido home, and more than a month to find the man who had stolen his fairy. Luckily it was still alive and Saria, who came to visit soon afterward, said that both it and Mido were on the road to recovery.

"He was never really that bad," she said. "He was jealous of you Link."

"Of me?" Link blinked.

"Everyone made such a big deal over you when you first arrived. Mido was the most popular guy around before you came, I think he thought you'd stolen his position."

"I wasn't popular."

"You were when you were tiny. It was when you started to look like a real person, but weren't like the rest of us, that everyone lost interest."

"Lost interest," Link snorted. "That's a nice way of putting it."

"Well it is pretty much what happened." She spread her hands. "We all still liked you, you just weren't as interesting. Do you understand?"

Link shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't." He looked down at his hands, running one finger over the Triforce tattoo. "What's going to happen when I get out of here?" he wondered aloud. "Do I even belong back home any more?"

"Of course!" Saria exclaimed. "It's still your home, even if you've been gone awhile. Not a lot changes in the forest, everything will be just like you left it."

"But _I've _changed. A lot. Will I even be welcome?"

"I'll welcome you. And Mido will too."

"Mido?"

"You saved his life. At least, he thinks so. And he's told the others. Link," Saria took his left hand, "you're a hero."

"A hero..." Link smiled. "You think so?"

"I do." She smiled back. "You know we still think of you as one of us."

"But I'm not one of you."

"Not a Kokiri, no. But you're still one of the family."

Link smiled again. "Family huh?"

"Yup."

"Okay, little big sister, I'll see you in a year."

"In a year," Saria squeezed his hand. "And hey, maybe you can be our link to the outside world."

Link winced. "Did you just pun my name?"

Saria smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't resist."

zzz

Later that same day, Sheik approached Ruto as she was leaving for the day.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied flatly.

"Listen, um, I think I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have acted like that, and I had no right to judge you."

"You're right, and thank you, but I owe you an apology too. I shouldn't have, well questioned your sexuality."

"It's okay," Sheik said. "I'll admit I can sometimes act a little...you know."

"Yeah, I know. And I can be a bit of a bitch sometimes."

"I'm not arguing."

They both laughed.

"So..." Ruto moved toward Sheik and smiled. "You like girls?"

"Totally," Sheik said firmly.

"Got a type?" Her smile was now wicked.

"Erm, well..." Sheik took a step back.

"You don't limit yourself to Sheikah girls, do you?"

"Well, no." He glanced around, looking for an out. Link was coming around the corner behind her. He started to wave to him, but Ruto grabbed his hand.

"You know, you're a nice guy, and pretty cute."

"Um, thanks?"

"I wouldn't mind getting to know you better."

"Well, that might be nice." Sheik mentally berated himself for being so polite.

"Glad to hear it." Then, in full sight of Link, Ruto pulled Sheik toward her, grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him on the mouth.

Link gaped.

Sheik struggled.

Ruto released him and smiled.

"See you...Sheik." She walked off down the hall, saying hi to Link on the way.

For a few seconds after she left, Link and Sheik stayed frozen, shocked. Link was the first one to break out of it. He walked toward Sheik, still gaping a little, and asked, "Did she just..."

Sheik shook himself. "Uh, yeah," he said, uncomfortable.

"Did she use..."

"Uh-huh." Sheik clearly resented the questioning.

There was another pause.

Link scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, uh, what was it like?"

Sheik, pissed off, decided to show him. He grabbed Link's hand, pulled him close, put his other hand behind his head, and kissed him firmly.

After a moment Sheik released him and said, "Only colder and with _more tongue_."

Link gasped like a fish.

Sheik stalked off down the hallway toward the TV room.

Slowly, Link raised a shaking hand to his mouth. He now had only two objectives in life. To punch Ruto, and to somehow make it to his room without anyone seeing how turned on he was.


	12. The Truth Will Set You Free

12. The Truth Will Set You Free

"Time passes, people move. Like a river's flow, it never ends..."

"The flow of time is always cruel. Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it..."

"It is something that grows over time, a true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time. The passion of friendship will soon blossom into a righteous power and through it, you will know which way to go..."

Sheik had said some weird things over the years, but they had all stuck in Link's mind. True, most of them had been said in the context of one of the legends he told from time to time, but sometimes he looked right at Link when he said these things.

That meant something, right?

zzz

Time really did pass, and people really did move. For one thing, Ruto left. Link did something to her, and Sheik did something to her, and none of the three of them would ever speak of it.

Though it _was _likely that Ruto thought they were both gay now.

As his eighteenth birthday approached, Link started getting impatient. Soon, very soon, he would be free.

_Freedom!_

Sheik too, would be free soon, and though he was excited, he seemed subdued about it. It was kind of weird. As though he didn't want to go home. Which, since Link still knew almost nothing about Sheik's past, was entirely possible.

Of course, as soon as he got out, Sheik had a girl waiting for him.

His "guaranteed lay."

Link had to remind himself not to be bitter about that. He knew now he was jealous of the girl, not Sheik, but...

Still, Link was excited. He couldn't wait to leave. To see the forest again. The absence of it wasn't slowly killing him like it had Mido, but he still missed it.

But soon. Soon...

zzz

Good behavior. The words rang in Link's ears. Good behavior.

That was what the powers-that-be were giving as the reason for Link and Sheik's early release, but the boys both knew the real reason. Mido had been going mad, dying maybe, and Link and Sheik had been responsible for both his release and the capture of the man who'd stolen his fairy, an act that amounted to kidnapping. That was reward-worthy.

And so, both boys were getting out in spring, more than a month early for Link, two months for Sheik.

They left their room together, for the last time, and couldn't help pausing in the doorway and looking back.

Sheik's bed, missing a bedpost and with his name carved into the headboard; he'd re-carved it every time they'd moved into a new room.

Link's bed, much less battle scarred, but still bearing marks of use.

"One thing," Sheik said. "Wait here." He crossed the room, pulled a nail file out of his pocket, and deftly carved Link's name onto his headboard, with the Triforce just beneath it. "Much better," he said with a smile. "We can go now," he started to walk past Link.

"Wait," Link put a hand on Sheik's shoulder. He looked him in the eyes. "What happens now?"

They looked at each other for a moment, but Sheik broke his gaze away first.

"I...don't know."

zzz

Bonanza did the honors, meeting the boys as they walked out the door. She squealed, jumped up and down, kissed them both, and insisted on taking them shopping.

This was a good plan, since Sheik's only clothes were his Sheikah ninja outfit, and all Link had was a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the bin. Of course, Sheik was the only one with any money, but he was more than willing to buy Link some things.

Eventually though, it got late and Bonanza had to go.

"You guys going home?" she asked.

"Eventually," Sheik said uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I guess," Link said. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"Take care," Bonanza said. "And visit often, 'kay?"

"Sure."

"See ya."

The boys stood outside the store for a few moments after she left.

"Well," Link shifted his bags from one hand to the other, "I should get going if I want to get to the forest before dark..." He didn't want to go. He didn't want Sheik to let him go. He would have screamed "Stop me!" if he'd had the power.

"Wait," Sheik said.

Link stopped. "Yes?"

Sheik rubbed his arm. "Link, will you...come with me?"

"Come with you?" Link repeated. "Where?"

"I- I got a hotel room for a couple days since I don't really feel like going home just yet." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Impa doesn't know I got out early so..."

"What about your 'guaranteed lay?'" Link was rather proud that he managed to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Oh, well, I don't have to do that right away... I just don't want to split up yet, you know?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do know." Link smiled. "Okay, I'll come."

zzz

The motel Sheik had the room at was small and nondescript. Not exactly the type of place for a romantic getaway, but not the kind of place that rents by the hour either. The room itself was small, but clean, and had just the one bed, a queen.

"Nice place," Link said, because he didn't know what else to say.

"It'll do," Sheik said. He walked into the room, and froze as he realized what he'd said. "I mean, um..."

"No, it's okay..." Link shut the door, but stayed near it. "Hey, your lay is why you got this room, right?"

"Sorta..." Sheik rubbed his arm and hunched his shoulders. "Link...there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh?"

"I've been lying to you."

"Yeah, I'd sort of guessed that."

"But...I doubt you've guess just what I've been lying about." Sheik took a deep breath and turned to face Link. "Link...my guaranteed lay...is you."

There was a long silence. Years seemed to pass before Link could remember to breathe, much less form words.

"Sheik..." he said, dreading what would come next, "I'm...I'm not..."

"I'm not either," Sheik interrupted.

"But- but you just said-"

"I'm not gay." Sheik took another deep breath. "I'm a girl."

Sheik raised a hand, the hand he had the Triforce tattooed on, in front of his face. A bright light filled the room, temporarily blinding Link, and when his eyes cleared, instead of the young Sheikah man he had known for so long, he saw...

She was small, but curvy, with Sheik's soft straight blond hair, ocean blue eyes, and a pale oval madonna face. Sheik was beautiful.

"Damn," Link muttered. "Wow. You- you're... Wow."

"What?" Sheik looked down at herself. "It's been awhile since I've seen myself like this, do I look all right?"

"All right?" Link repeated. "You look better than all right. You look _damn_!"

She laughed and blushed prettily. "You really think so?"

"I really really do."

And then there was nothing more to say. Sheik rubbed her arm again and Link shuffled his feet. They both looked up at the same time, then looked away quickly after their eyes met.

Finally, Link had to speak. "So...so what did you mean when you said I was your guaranteed lay?"

"Oh, well," she laughed nervously and looked at the floor. "I thought that was kind of obvious. I- I know it might seem strange, since we've been friends for so long, but I just figured you'd be so horny that I'd have no trouble talking you into it, even if you didn't really want to."

Link slowly began to walk toward her. "Sheik...I can say honestly that there is nothing I have ever wanted more in my life, excepting one."

"One? What one?"

"Look at me," Link said.

She did.

"I've been wanting to tell you this for years." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I love you. More than as a friend, I love you as a woman. I consider the fact that you _are _a woman a bonus."

Sheik laughed, that same laugh Link had always adored, if a bit higher pitched. "I really confused you didn't I?"

"You have no idea." He leaned his head toward her, closer, closer, until their breaths mingled. "But I forgive you," he murmured.

Sheik's lips were trembling, but she managed to whisper, "I love you too. So much. And...I'm so sorry for everything."

"I already told you," Link smiled. "I forgive you, for everything, ever."

Then he kissed her.

He'd been waiting for this for so long, and it was everything he could have imagined.

Somehow they wound up on the bed, exploring one another's bodies with lips and hands and tongues.

"Mm, ah, Sheik..."

"Mm, call me by my real name."

"What is it?"

"Zelda."

"Mm, ah, Zelda... Wait, Zelda?" Link sat up. "Your name is Zelda? As in, Zelda? As in _Princess _Zelda!"

"Well, yes."

Link stared at her. The princess rubbed her arm. That little gesture, the same thing Sheik did whenever he was uncomfortable, reminded Link of what was important.

"Oh hell," he muttered. "I don't really care about that, but doesn't this mean... Well, you're the _princess_."

"Yeah..." Zelda turned away from him. "I- I've got to go back to that...eventually. But not right now..." she took his hand and placed it on her body. "Not tonight..."

"But Sh- I mean, Zelda, I _love _you. I want to be with you." He looked down. "Forever..."

"Forever?"

He nodded.

"Oh Link... I want that too. So much... Oh god, I love you too!" She clung to him, near tears. "I just want to be with you until we both grow old and die... But..."

Link looked down at her, clinging ot his chest. She was so beautiful, and so sad, and he loved her so much...

Link wrapped his arms around her small trembling body. "It's okay Zel... Can I call you Zel?"

"Please do." Zelda sniffed and smiled up at him. "I've never had a real nickname before. I like it."

Link smiled back. "I'm glad." He squeezed her tighter. "It's all gonna be okay Zel. Even if you do have to go back to being a princess, it's not for a while right?"

"Right." She sat up, brightening. "Hell, Impa doesn't even know I got out early. She won't come looking for me for a couple weeks at least."

"We can spend all that time together!" Link grabbed her hand. "I can show you my old home, we can visit Bonanza, and we can..." With his free hand he trailed his fingers up her thigh.

Zelda grinned.

zzz

They stayed up late, talking and...doing other things, and throughout the course of the night, Link found out Zelda's story.

She had gone into hiding, just like it said in the newspaper, but the paper didn't know that she had gone into hiding as a boy. She and Impa had gone to a small town and Impa had told the neighbors that "Sheik" was her nephew.

But despite the impeccable disguise, Impa rarely let Zelda outside, and Zelda _wanted _to go outside. Now that she was a boy, she thought she'd be able to have fun and be normal. But no, she had to keep up with her lessons and stay inside.

So after only a few days, Zelda ran away.

Impa caught her fairly quickly, but she felt the need to write the King and Queen about it and recommend that the princess hide somewhere else.

Not as a boy.

And with much less freedom.

So she ran away again and broke into the post office to steal the letter.

And that's when the police caught her, or rather, him.

"I forgot about the security camera," Zelda said sheepishly. "I didn't even think a post office would have one."

"So if it hadn't been for one dumb mistake on your part," Link hugged Zelda to him, "we never would have met."

"I've never been happier to have made a mistake."

Some time later, Link asked a question. "So this is why you knew how to fight and do magic?"

"Yup. You know the stories, princesses get kidnapped a lot. I need to be able to protect myself."

"And this is why you were glad to be a natural leader."

Zel laughed. "I can't believe you remember that. But yes."

"And this is why you were reading those puberty books. And why you overcompensated when it came to girls. And why you were always so loyal to the royal family."

Zel laughed again. "Yes, yes, and yes. I guess I really _wasn't _that good at hiding it."

Link sat up a little and leaned over her. "What about Smith and Wesson?"

Zelda avoided his gaze. "What about them?"

"Did they know?"

"They knew..."

Link's eyes narrowed.

"But I didn't tell them! They just...knew."

"You didn't tell them?" he asked seriously.

"Come on Link! If I didn't tell you, do you honestly think I would have told anyone else? Besides, they didn't even tell me they knew until their last day. Those little..."

Link smiled, leaned down and kissed her. "Little what?" he murmured.

"Who cares?" she replied.

Later still, Link asked about the pneumonia. "That was you who broke into the castle that night, wasn't it?"

"Uh-huh. My mother wanted to tell me something on my sixteenth birthday, but the only way to see her was to break out. And then when I was coming back I had to hide from the guards _and _the reporters and I wound up standing in the rain for hours. Another stupid mistake, and not one I'm so grateful for."

"I am."

"You are?"

"If I hadn't been so afraid of losing you, I don't know if I would have realized I loved you."

"You've known you loved me since then!"

"Yeah."

"But...you still thought I was a guy!"

"Yeah."

"And you're sure you're not gay? Or at least bi?"

"_Yes_."

"Wow, I really _did _mess with your head."

"Yeah," Link laughed.

zzz

Much later, Zelda snuggled up against Link, not knowing and not caring whether or not he was awake. "My hero..." she murmured, then drifted off.

zzz

At 7:24 the next morning, the door to the hotel room rented under the name Sheik Nohansen creaked open. An imposing woman with silver hair and piercing red eyes stepped into the room and cast her blood-colored gaze on the happy young couple in the bed.

After a moment, the girl stirred. She opened her eyes. She swore.

"Good morning your highness," Impa said.

"Hi Impa," she said flatly.

"It's time to go home."

"Hell no."

Link blinked and sat up. It took him several moments to register where he was and who else was into the room. Then he swore too.

"Um, sorry Miss Impa," he said afterward, pulling the sheets up over his bare chest. "It's early."

"Yes. It is. And I'm assuming 'Sheik' told you who she really is."

"Well, yes."

"Then you know it's time for her to go."

Link looked down. "Yeah..."

"What?" Zelda exclaimed. "No! No way! We only just-"

Link grabbed Zelda's hand. "You have a duty."

"But-"

"You can't run away."

"No..."

"I love you Zel."

"I love you too."

"Remember me?"

"Always."

Impa turned her back to them. "Get dressed your highness. We need to leave."

Zelda nodded slowly. "All right."

She got up and dressed, and Link pulled on his pants to fit in.

"I'm ready," the princess said sadly.

"Good," Impa turned and looked at her. She frowned. "That's what you're wearing?"

She had on jeans and a t-shirt with the slogan: 'you suck worse than the suckiest suck that ever sucked.' "I don't have anything else," she said.

"It'll do then." She frowned at Zelda's tattoo. "The first thing we have to do is get you some gloves."

"Aww..."

"Come on," she started toward the door.

"Wait, I...need to say goodbye."

Link stood up as Zelda came toward him. They looked at each other for a moment. And suddenly Zelda was in his arms and they were squeezing each other as though they never wanted to let go.

Link knew he didn't.

Impa cleared her throat, and they reluctantly pulled apart.

"Just a second," Link said. He dashed over to a corer of the room and scooped something up, then dashed back and pressed it into Zelda's hand. "Here."

Zelda looked at the object. "Your hat? But- but you love this thing."

"I love you more." Link smiled and pretended that wasn't as corny as it had sounded. "I want you to have it. To remember me."

"I..." she looked down at the hat, then hugged it to her chest. "Okay, but..." She dug pulled something out of a bag and gave it to Link. "Then you keep this."

"Your vest?" Link stared at her. "But...this is...like, your most prized possetion..."

She smiled. "I love you more."

"Your highness..." Impa tapped her foot.

"Just one last thing, I promise." She took a breath. "Link, there's something I want to tell you. Something I never told you before. You remember that time you, Ice, and Darmani were arguing about the Hero of Time and the Hero of Winds? And I said they were the same person?"

"Yeah."

"And I said his name will be remembered?"

"Yeah."

"I lied. That's not how it goes."

"Then how does it go?"

"Whenever the world is in danger a hero will be born and his name will be..." Zelda took his left hand and held it up, with the Triforce tattoo toward him, "Link."

"Link?" Link repeated, stunned.

"Link." She kissed his palm. "Promise me something?"

"Anything."

"If there's a way...if you ever think of a way... Come to me?"

"Of course."

"I'll wait for you."

She smiled, her eyes wet with tears.

And then they were gone.

Link sunk down on the bed, staring at the door.

She was gone. She was really gone.

Link looked at the back of his left hand, at the Triforce.

_A juvenile delinquent is not worthy of a princess_, he thought, and clenched his fist. _But a hero is_.


	13. A New Beginning

13. A New Beginning

Her Royal Highness Princess Zelda of Hyrule slumped in her ornate chair as the attractive dark-haired man kneeling in front of her prattled on. She was very tempted to tell the man simply, "I prefer blonds," but that would have been rude. Princesses were not allowed to be rude.

Her family and tutors had spent the last five years re-training her to be a princess. Eight years in juvie can really take the prim-and-properness out of a girl, and she'd resisted the rehabilitation pretty strongly. Zelda had _liked _being Sheik.

Sheik was the one Link had fallen in love with.

The man now reciting his own merits in front of her was one in a string of men who had been visiting over the last few days. You see, at twenty-three, Zelda was much older than either of her parents had been when they had married. She was much older than any princess in the last couple hundred years had been when they had married. So "suitable" men from all over the world were introducing themselves, with the express purpose of winning her hand.

Unfortunately, most of them were incredible bores, and none of them were Zelda's type. She liked normal guys, albeit with big hearts and a streak of courage, and blue eyes couldn't hurt.

She didn't really want to get married at all. At least not to anyone with any noble blood. The one she wanted was...

"Boss! Hsst! Hey Boss!" a voice hissed from a high window.

Zelda looked up at it without turning her head and saw a familiar dark face, one ruby-colored eye obscured by silky blond hair.

"Not now Wesson," the Princess murmured.

"You will _never believe _who I just saw Boss," he said.

"I said _not now_."

"...and I hope to get to know you in the future," the dark-haired man finished his speech and smiled winningly up at her.

Zelda sat up a little and smiled politely. "An intriguing offer my Lord Damson," she said, sounding for all the world as though she meant it, "But-"

Suddenly the dark face disappeared from the window, there was a crash from outside the room, and a voice cried, "Ow! Dammit Smith! You call _that _support!"

Zelda sighed. "Impa, would you mind checking on my new attendants?"

"Of course your highness." Impa left, cracking her knuckles.

"As I was saying, Lord Damson, I appreciate the offer but my schedule is far too busy for much socializing. But perhaps I will see you at a ball sometime?"

"Uh, of course, I would be honored." Lord Damson recognized her reply as the kiss-off that it was, but had been brought up just as well, if not better, than Zelda had. He would not show disappointment. He bowed and left the room.

"Any other visitors?" Zelda asked her steward.

"A few," he smiled wryly. Most in the palace were quite aware of Zelda's opinion of her life, and understood. "Your next visitor is a young knight named Sir Link."

Zelda sat up, her face blank. "Sir Link?"

"That's right," the steward did not notice anything amiss. "He was knighted only a few weeks ago, for outstanding service to the crown."

"What...kind of service?"

"He's basically spent the last five years going around the country and saving people from this and that. An honest-to-Din hero." The steward looked at his notes. "Oh, and apparently he single-handedly opened up relations with the Kokiri. Grew up with them or something. His records are a bit confused before he turned eighteen though. Probably spent all that time in the forest."

"Yes, probably," Zelda agreed distractedly. "Send him in."

Sir Link entered the room, smiling slightly and looking the princess right in the eyes.

A slight flush raised in Zelda's cheeks.

He was a tall, golden, column of muscle, dressed in loose, green clothing that was semi-formal and somehow managed to accentuate his masculine perfection.

Like Zelda, he was wearing gloves.

He kneeled on the floor in front of her, as was proper. "Greetings, your highness," he said, that slightly smug smile still on his face. "You look even lovelier than I had imagined."

"The same to you," Zelda replied, slightly breathless.

"So rumor has it you're well on your way to becoming an old maid."

Zelda blinked, and the steward started forward angrily, as though to remove Sir Link from the room. The Princess raised a hand to stop him.

"You shouldn't listen to rumors," she said calmly.

"Mm, perhaps not. But I figured if you were trying to escape that fate, you would rather spend your life with someone who has no ambition whatsoever, and considers you much much more than just a stepping stone in his career." He smiled up at her. "Besides, don't you like blonds?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Zelda was starting to enjoy herself now. "Although I don't think that little tidbit was ever printed in any tabloids."

"No, I think I picked up that information written on a bathroom wall."

Zelda and Link smiled at each other.

"So if you want to spend your life with me, as you said," Zelda said, "what are you offering?"

Link shrugged. "I think I'll never be worthy of you, but I've spent the last five years trying to make myself worthy of a princess. I offer you a willing slave, a devoted friend, a hero as a husband, and all of my heart. Although..." he smiled, and his eyes sparkled wickedly, "I feel I should warn you. I was a juvenile delinquent."

"That's all right," Zelda smiled back, just as wicked. "So was I."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

All together now: AWWWWWWWW...

This is the end by the way. Some of you have expressed an interest in a sequel, and I'll admit I have some ideas, but I also have ideas for some new stories. So I propose this: tell me what you think. You guys are good at that.

I have three possibilities (four if you count the sequel to this one).

1. _Masks, Migraines, and Why I Hate Hormones_. This would be a retelling of Majora's Mask, in the same style as my other two "Why I Hate Hormones" stories. Technically, Link doesn't have hormones in this, but I wanted to keep the title similar to the first two so the connection would be clear. Problem is, I haven't played Majora's Mask in ages and I don't remember a lot of it, so I'll have to look up a walkthrough or something and do some studying first. Might take some time.

2. _The Legend of Zeld: Prince of Destiny_. This is an almost completely original story. I made up everything on my own, even the bad guy (I love the bad guy), except the world and legends. The story is simple: Prince (yes, _prince_, not princess) Zeld gets kidnapped. Twice. And his hero, or rather, _heroine_, is the only one who can save him. Yay gender-swapping! (I was tired of weak females. Sue me.) The problem with this one is that, because it's original-ish, I need to make up the plot myself. Which is hard. I have the first couple chapters ready to go, and I know the end...sort of, but last time I started this Iwrote myself into a corner and it might take some time to do it right.

3. Revamp _Time Travel, Drag Kings, and Why I Hate Hormones_. I got an OoT text dump off the internet and I want to go through it and add more direct quotes from the game. I've already redone chapters 1 and 13 (go back and re-read 13 if you haven't. It gives more insight into Link's feelings on the whole thing, and I think it's much better). The bonus for this one is that it'll take a couple weeks at most, then I can start on something else.

So that's all I have to say about that. Except one thing. Somebody asked if Link is bisexual. In this story, I think he might be, if only a little. That's not a bad thing, I think more people are a little bit bi than would ever be able to admit it. But on the whole Link prefers girls. And he completely loves Zelda. Somebody else said Link seemed gay in all my stories. THAT'S A DAMN LIE. I am a firm believer in LinkxZelda. Just because I love Sheik, doesn't mean I think Link loves guys. HE DOESN'T. He loves _Zelda_.

Wait, that was two things. Oh well, you get the idea. (And no, I'm not opposed to gays in general. Love is love, and I'm bi remember? Hearts not parts!)

And sorry for the long author note(s).


End file.
